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THE 


OMTOR'S  TOUCHSTONE; 

OR, 

ELOQUENCE    SIMPLIFIED. 

EMBBAGINa 

A  COMPREHENSIVE    SYSTEM    OF    INSTRUCTION 
FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  VOICE, 


FOR  ADVANCEMENT   IN  THE  GENERAL  ART   OF 
PUBLIC   SPEAKING. 


BY  HUGH  McQueen. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

Nos.  329   AND   331    PEARL    STREET, 
FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 

1858. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853,  by 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 

New  York. 


WFTOF 
UBftARY 


TO   THE 

HON.  JOHN    MclEAN, 

ONE   OF   THE  JUDGES  OF   THE   SUPREME   COURT  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES, 

The  following  pages  are  very  respectfully  inscribed,  by 
one  who  has  uniformly  cherished  an  equal  admiration  for 
the  beautiful  morality  which  adorns  his  private  character, 
and  for  the  solid  learning,  sound  integrity,  and  inflexible 
firmness,  the  union  of  which  in  his  person,  has  contributed 
to  reflect  an  enduring  lustre  on  the  most  elevated  seat 
of  American  jurisprudence. 


861345 


PREFACE. 

The  Essays  presented  in  this  volume  were  com- 
menced by  tlie  author  witliout  any  view  to  publi- 
cation, during  a  suspension  of  professional  duties, 
occasioned  by  tbe  pressure  of  ill  Iiealth.  The  earlier 
numbers  were  written  under  the  united  influence  of 
two  very  innocent  desires.  The  one  of  which  was  to 
occupy  the  thoughts  of  the  writer  with  some  species 
of  employment,  and  the  other  to  embody  in  a  tangible 
and  specific  form,  some  novel  if  not  profitable  views 
which  had  been  long  floating  on  the  surface  of  the 
mind,  and  which  had  been  directly  derived  from  an 
observation  of  practical  life. 

The  determination  to  hold  these  papers  in  reserve 
was  changed  by  the  persuasion  of  a  few  cultivated 
and  judicious  friends  who  had  carefully  perused  them, 
and  expressed  the  conviction  that  some  good  might 
probably  be  accomplished  by  investing  them  with  a 
more  enduring  form  than  was  originally  contemplated. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  ultimate  results  may 


VI  PEEFACE. 

prove  that  the  opinions  wMcli  influenced  the  writer 
to  change  his  early  decision  on  this  subject,  were  the 
dictate  of  a  partial  spirit  of  kindness,  rather  than  of  a 
severe  judgment  of  what  was  best  for  the  writer  and 
the  public  interests.  But  the  publication  of  the  ensu- 
ing chapters  has  been  induced  bj  a  sincere  desire  on 
the  part  of  the  writer  to  make  some  contribution, 
even  should  it  prove  to  be  a  mere  pittance,  to  the 
common  treasury  of  his  country's  information.  If  a 
portion  of  the  exercises  presented  in  these  essays  shall 
be  impressed  with  the  stamp  of  novelty,  a  lively  hope 
is  cherished  that  they  will  prove  practically  beneficial 
to  those  who  may  adopt  them.  And  if  they  should 
not  ascend  so  high  in  the  scale  of  public  appreciation 
as  to  be  commended  for  their  utility,  they  will  at  least 
experience  an  immunity  from  censure  for  the  inflic- 
tion of  any  positive  injury  on  the  interests  of  society. 
And  they  are  accordingly  submitted  to  the  world  by 
the  writer  in  a  spirit  of  humble  but  fearless  confidence 
in  regard  to  the  personal  results  of  the  adventure  to 
himself 

The  words  "speaker,"  "pupil,"  and  "student," 
have  been  alternately  adopted  in  the  following  essays, 
as  descriptive  terms  to  indicate  the  person  who  may 
conceive  it  expedient  to  apply  to  his  own  interests 
and  improvement  any  of  the  disciplinary  exercises 
which  are  suggested  in  this  Book.  Neither  the  term 
^^speaJcer^ '  ^^pupil^^''  nor  ^^  student,''^  as  used  in  the  ensu- 


PREFACE.  Vll 

ing  pages,  has  the  slightest  shade  of  reference  to  the 
age  of  the  person  who  shall  subject  himself  to  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  exercises  which  have  been  advised. 
Either  of  the  preceding  descriptive  terms  as  used  in 
this  treatise  may  include  a  person  in  the  maturity  of 
life  equally  with  one  who  may  be  buoyant  with  the 
spirit  and  bloom  of  youth — ^the  octagenarian  as  well 
as  the  minor  amongst  those  classes  of  persons  who 
shall  choose  to  make  an  experiment  on  the  validity 
and  soundness  of  the  suggestions  contained  in  this 
book. 

It  may  possibly  be  objected  that  the  preceding 
t^rms  "speaker,"  "^^^p^7,"  ''^ student^''  have  been  intro- 
duced with  a  culpable  degree  of  frequency.  But,  in 
paying  a  due  share  of  homage  to  the  interests  of  per- 
spicuity, it  was  found  impracticable  to  indulge  in  a 
more  sparing  use  of  the  terms  in  question.  For  they 
have  been  used  as  descriptive  of  character,  and  that 
particular  character  too,  which  forms  the  principal 
subject  of  the  essays  contained  in  this  book. 

There  is  another  feature  which  prominently  marks 
the  ensuing  essays,  which,  without  explanation,  may 
be  pronounced  a  glaring  and  incurable  imperfection. 
The  feature  to  which  reference  is  now  made,  is  the 
fact  of  first  devoting  a  chapter  specially  to  the  consid- 
eration of  a  particular  exercise,  and  then  recurring  to 
the  exercise  already  described  again,  and  repeating  it 
in  union  with  some  distinct  subject  presented  in  a 


VUl  PEEFACB. 

subsequent  chapter.  The  act  of  bringing  up  again  or 
repeating  an  exercise  wbicli  may  have  been  already 
considered,  and  of  blending  it  to  a  brief  extent  witb 
some  subject  included  in  a  succeeding  chapter,  has 
been  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  attention 
of  the  practitioner  in  a  special  manner,  to  the  subject 
which  may  be  thus  repeated.  The  preceding  course 
has  been  also  pursued  for  the  purpose  of  preserving 
the  unity  between  two  exercises,  where  the  use  of  one 
would  be  utterly  useless  and  unproductive,  indepen- 
dent of  the  other  as  an  adjunct  or  auxiliary. 

In  regard  to  the  general  arrangement  of  the  chap- 
ters contained  in  this  book,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  it 
was  found  utterly  impossible  to  reduce  them  to  that 
precise  and  symmetrical  beauty  of  form  and  of  system 
which  marks  the  pages  of  the  stricter  and  sterner 
sciences.  All  which  has  been  attempted  by  the  writer 
was  to  preserve  a  distinct  and  visible  boundary 
between  those  exercises  which  have  been  suggested 
for  the  improvement  of  the  voice,  and  those  other  ap- 
pliances of  a  more  varied  and  miscellaneous  character 
which  conduce  to  fill  up  and  perfect  the  entire  scope 
of  oratory.  The  writer  is  animated  by  the  faint  hope 
that  in  the  last-mentioned  attempt  he  has  not  entirely 
failed. 

AsTOE  House,  Neva  York^  Nov.  26/*,  1868. 


Cotttiiits. 


PAGZ 

Introduction. 1 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Management  of  the  Voice  one  of  the  Principal  Elements 
in  Successful  Speaking 23 


CHAPTER  H. 
A  Happy  Faculty  of  Intonation — Its  Advantages 26 

CHAPTER  HI. 

An  Eflfective  Style  of  Delivery  a  Specific  Quality,  like  that  of 
Tune.  The  Pupil  in  Elocution  should  carefully  fix  in  his  mind 
some  Model  of  Excellence  in  that  Department 28 

CHAPTER  IV. 
By  what  means  an  Effective  Style  of  Delivery  may  be  Acquired. .  31 

CHAPTER  V. 

Deep  and  Musical  Tones  of  Voice — The  Mode  by  which  they 
are  Produced 33 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Deep  and  Musical  Tones — Both  acquired  by  and  perpetuated 
by  the  Persevering  Culture  of  the  Voice 8*7 


X  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

PAOK 

The  Deep  and  Musical  Tones  which  are  occasionally  blended  with 
the  Voice  of  a  I*upil  in  the  Exercises  of  Music  and  Declama- 
tion— Is  it  possible  to  transfer  them  to  the  Practical  Business 
of  Speaking  ? 43 


CHAPTER  VHI. 
Exercises  in  Vocal  Music  beneficial  to  the  Voice 46 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Mode  by  which  Vocal  Music  is  rendered  beneficial  to  the 
Voice 48 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Mode  by  which  Vocal  Music  is  rendered  tributary  to  the  Ac- 
comphshment  of  Speaking 61 

CHAPTER  XI. 

»  The  Quantity  of  Time  that  should  be  devoted  to  Vocal  Music  by 

a  Pupil  in  Elocution 63 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Exercise  of  Vocal  Music  conducted  on  the  Natural  Key  of 
the  Voice— Its  Effect 5b 

CHAPTER  XHI. 
Vocal  Music  on  the  Natural  Key  of  the  Voice— continued 66 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Alto,  or  Highest  Key,  to  be  adopted  in  Musical  Exercises 
only  when  the  Pupil  in  Elocution  gives  Full  Sound  to  the 
Sharpest  and  Highest  Notes 58 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PAQB 

Vocal  Music,  conducted  on  the  Natural  Key  of  the  Voice,  to  be 
succeeded  immediately  by  an  Exercise  in  Heading  or  in  Decla- 
mation on  the  same  Key 60 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Particular  Tunes  by  which  the  Voice  of  a  Speaker  should 
be  exercised  in  Vocal  Music 62 


CHAPTER  XVH. 

Exercising  the  Voice  immediately  previous  to  retiring  to  rest 
— Its  Effect  considered 66 


CHAPTER  XVHI. 
Miscellaneous  Reflections  on  the  Tones  of  the  Voice 67 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Essential  Importance  of  Confining  the  Voice,  in  the  Act 
of  Speaking,  to  the  Natural  Key — and  in  what  the  Advan- 
tage of  this  Course  consists 68 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Does  it  ever  happen,  in  the  Exercise  of  Speaking  and  Singing, 
that  the  Human  Voice  is  pitched  on  a  Key  too  low  to  admit 
of  Easy  and  Effective  Speaking  ? 74 

CHAPTER  XXL 

The  Preliminary  Exercises  which  may  prevent  the  Embarrass- 
ments which  result  from  pitching  the  Voice  on  an  Incorrect 
Key  in  Speaking 76 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 


PAQE 


The  Mode  by  which  a  Pupil  who  possesses  no  Ear  for  Music,  or 
Sense  of  Tune,  is  to  correct  the  Imperfections  of  his  Voice. . .     IS 

■t, 
CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Mode  by  which  a  Pupil  who  possesses  no  Recognition  of  Tune 
is  to  ascertain  when  his  Voice  is  pitched  on  a  "Wrong  Key 
ia  the  Process  of  Speaking. 81 

CHAPTER  XXn^. 

When  a  Speaker  discovers,  in  the  Process  of  Speaking,  that  his 
Voice  is  pitched  on  an  Erroneous  or  Difficult  Key,  the  Remedy . .     84 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Are  all  the  Disciplinary  Exercises  uselessly  expended  on  the 
Voice  of  a  Pupil  in  Elocution,  who  speaks  on  one  Key  only  ?. .     86 

CHAPTER  XXVI.  * 

The  Practice  of  Declaiming,  when  alone,  on  Questions  which  may 
be  selected  by  the  Pupil  Himself 88 

CHAPTER  XXVH. 

rhe  Power  of  giving  Mai-ked  Effect  to  Particular  Words  in  a 
Speech 93 

CHAPTER  XXVIH. 

How  the  Faculty  of  yielding  Peculiar  Effect  to  Certain  Words 
may  be  acquired 99 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Effect  of  giving  a  Round,  Full,  and  Deep  Sound  to  the  Voice 
by  the  Repeated  Vociferation  of  Certain  Words 100 


CONTENTS.  XlU 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

PAGE 

Loud  Speaking  Considered 102 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Frequent  Repetition  of  Interrogatories  in  Speaking,  a  Bene- 
ficial Exercise  for  the  Voice 106 


CHAPTER  XXXH. 

Keeping  the  Voice  on  a  Continuous  Strain  of  Vehement  DedLt 
mation  during  the  Delivery  of  an  Entire  Speech,  considered. ,     112 


CHAPTER  XXXIH. 
Reading  with  the  Utmost  Strength  of  the  Voice,  considered. .        113 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
The  Daily  Exercise  of  Reading  in  an  Audible  Tone  of  Voice.      . .  116 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
The  Practice  of  Reading  in  a  Tone  of  Voice  scarcely  Audible    ...  120 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
The  Subject  of  Gesticulatioa 123 

CHAPTER  XXXVH. 

The  Act  of  Pronouncing  Accurately — Its  Graces  and  Advan- 
tages    129 

CHAPTER  XXXVm. 

The  Advantages  which  result  from  a  Clear  Articulation  of  "Words 
by  a  Speaker 188 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


PAOC 


The  Property  of  Cadence  in  Speaking 138 

CHAPTER  XL. 
The  Ability  to  yield  a  Proper  Emphasis  to  "Words 141 

CHAPTER  XLI. 
The  Conversational  Style  in  Public  Speaking 148 

CHAPTER  XLH. 
The  Conversational  Style  in  Public  Speaking — continued. .......  141 


CHAPTER  XLHI. 

The  Acquisition  of  Different  Modes  of  Delivery — Its  Advan- 
tages     160 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 
The  Regulation  of  the  Voice  in  Reference  to  the  Volume  of 
its  Sound  from  the  Beginning  to  the  Close  of  an  Entire  Ar- 
gument   152 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

Is  it  possible  to  Imitate  the  Delivery  of  an  Accomplished  Speaker 
with  such  a  Degree  of  Success,  as  to  ensure  the  Transfer  of 
his  Particular  Style  and  Manner  to  the  Person  of  the  Copy- 
ist f 166 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

Deliberation  and  Self-possession  Necessary,  both  in  the  Open- 
ing and  iu  the  Progress  of  an  Argument 161 


CONTENTS.  XV 

CHAPTER  XLVII. 

PAQB 

Speaking  Cousidered  with  Regard  to  the  Length  of  a  Speech. ...  163 

CHAPTER  XLVIH. 
How  a  Speech  or  Address  should  be  Considered 168 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

What  Particular  Speeches   a   Pupil  should  select  for  the  Ex- 
ercise of  Declamation iTi 


CHAPTER  L. 

The  Habit  of  noting  down  the  Points  assumed  by  a  Speaker 
in  Delivering  an  Argument  where  the  Observer  may  not  be 
concerned  himself 181 


CHAPTER  LI. 

The  Importance  of  securing  one  Correct  View,  Idea,  or  Argu- 
ment in  Relation  to  a  Subject  on  which  a  Speaker  is  about 
to  Reason ...» 183 


CHAPTER  LII. 

When  a  Speaker  shall  have  once  indicated  by  the  Course  of  his 
Remarks  that  he  is  about  bringing  an  Argument  to  a  Close, 
He  should  never  take  a  Fresh  Start  in  Speaking  on  the  Occur- 
rence of  a  New  Idea  or  Fact  to  his  mind 185 


CHAPT^ER  LIIL 

The  Practice  of  noting  down  in  Succession  the  Prominent 
Points  which  may  be  involved  in  a  Case  at  Law,  or  on  a  Sub- 
ject which  has  been  set  for  Debate ^ 187 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  LIV. 

PAOI 

Writing  out  Copious  Notes  on  a  Subject  which  is  to  be  Dis- 
cussed   190 


CHAPTER  LV. 

A  Speaker  should  not  Reply  to  every  Position  assumed  by  an 
Opponent  in  Debate 194 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

The  Order  in  which  a  Speaker  should  Discuss  the  Points  or 
Propositions  which  must  naturally  arise  in  a  Trial  at  Law,  or 
in  a  Question  which  may  be  in  the  Progress  of  being  De- 
bated.   196 


CHAPTER  LVH. 

The  Preparatory  Process  to  be  Adopted  when  a  Student  is  about 
to  prepare  a  Written  Production  of  any  Description. 200 

CHAPTER  LVm. 

The  Practice  of  noting  Passages  of  Peculiar  Excellence  which 
occur  in  Various  Authors 204 

CHAPTER  LIX. 

A  Speaker  should  always  maintain  the  most  perfect  Good  Hu- 
mor in  addressing  an  Audience  of  any  Description. 209 

CHAPTER  LX. 

A  Speaker  should  never  be  Discouraged  by  an  Early  Failure 
in  an  Oratorical  Attempt 212 

CHAPTER  LXI. 

Which  Place  or  Position  in  arranging  the  Order  of  a  Discuss- 
ion a  Debater  should  prefer 214 


CONTENTS.  XVii 

CHAPTER  LXII. 

PXGH 

The  Introduction  of  Anecdotes  into  a  Discourse  or  Argument 220 

CHAPTER  LXni. 

A  Speaker  should  never  be  Restrained  from  the  Performance 
of  Duty  by  the  Influence  of  Diffidence 225 

CHAPTER  LXIV. 

Reasoning  by  the  Abduction  of  a  single  Fact  or  Principle  in 
Debate 221 

CHAPTER  LXV. 

The  Policy  of  reserving  Particular  Facts  by  a  Speaker,  to  be 
Disclosed  by  him  in  the  Delivery  of  an  Argument 231 

CHAPTER  LXVI. 

The  Propriety  of  Abusive  Language  being  applied  to  Parties 
and  Witnesses  by  Advocates,  considered 233 

CHAPTER  LXVII. 

A  Debater  should  never,  whilst  engaged  in  Speaking,  single  out 
any  Member  of  a  Jury  or  Person  in  any  other  Assembly, 
and  address  his  Remarks  directly  to  that  Person 236 


CHAPTER  LXVm. 

No  Speech  of  any  Description  should  abound  in  Allusions  to  the 
Speaker  Himself 24 1 


CHAPTER  LXIX. 

A  Debater  should  give  Courteous   Replies  to  Questions  pro- 
pounded to  him  when  Speaking 243 


XVni  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  LXX. 

PAGR 

A  Speaker  should  never  conduct  an  Argument  in  such  a  way 
as  necessarily  to  communicate  Pain  to  the  Feelings  of  any 
Class  of  Persons 245 


CHAPTER  LXXI. 

The  Elements  of  Euclid  and  the  Intellectual  System  of  Arith- 
metic, considered  as  Preliminary  Aids  to  the  Reasoning  Fac- 
ulties   248 


CHAPTER  LXXH. 

The  Practice  of  observing  the  most  Brilliant  Passages  of  Wit 
which  occur  in  Authors,  and  also  those  which  enliven  De- 
bate and  Conversation. 261 


CHAPTER  LXXm. 

The  Expediency  of  Questions  being  occasionally  propounded  by  a 
Speaker,  in  the  course  of  an  Argument  or  Address,  to  Op- 
posing Debaters,  or  to  Persons  sympathizing  with  such 
Debaters  in  Opinion 254 

CHAPTER  LXXIV. 

It  will  prove  an  Injudicious  Course,  in  any  Member  of  a  De- 
liberative Assembly,  to  participate  in  Debate  with  undue 
frequency 259 

CHAPTER  LXXV. 

The  Importance  of  making  Ample  Preparation  for  the  Dis- 
cussion of  any  Question  long  previous  to  the  Period  at  which 
it  is  to  be  disposed  of 262 

CHAPTER  LXXVI. 

A  Legislator  should  never  participate  in  Debate  exclusively  for 
the  Applause  of  the  Gallery 264 


CONTENTS.  xix 

CHAPTER  LXXVII. 

PAGK 

The  Great  Advantage  to  a  Speaker  of  Preserving  a  Perfect  De- 
gree of  Serenity  and  Coolness,  when  the  Assembly  of  vs^hich 
he  is  a  Member  may  be  thrown  into  a  state  of  Excitement,  Tu- 
mult, and  Confusion 266 

CHAPTER  LXXVin. 

The  Authors  which  a  Speaker  should  habitually  read  with  the 
view  of  Improving  his  Diction  in  Speaking 269 

CHAPTER  LXXIX. 
The  Introduction  of  Biblical  Quotations  into  Secular  Speeches. . . .  279 

CHAPTER  LXXX. 

A  Speaker  should  abstain  from  Latin  and  Greek  Quotations,  and 
from  habitual  allusions  to  Greece  and  Rome 282 

CHAPTER  LXXXI. 

The  Advantage  which  a  Speaker  derives  from  possessing  a  Fine 
Person,  considered ■  284 

CHAPTER  LXXXII. 

The  Benefit  which  may  be  derived  from  practising  Declamation 
before  a  Mirror 294 

CHAPTER  LXXXIH. 

The  Daily  Practice  of  Writing  an  Essay  on  some  Subject,  con- 
sidered  298 


CHAPTER  LXXXIV. 

The  Influence  exerted  by  Competition   on  the  Energies  of  a 
Speaker 301 


XX  CONTENTS. 

CIIAPTER  LXXXV. 

.    FAQK 

The  Introduction  of  Poetical  Quotations  into  a  Speech 306 

CHAPTER  LXXXVL 

The  Influence  exerted  by  Locality  in  the  Formation  of  Speakers. .  800 

CHAPTER  LXXXVn. 
The  Mania  for  Speaking 815 

CHAPTER  LXXXVHI. 
The  Influence  of  Luxurious  Living 819 

CHAPTER  LXXXIX. 

A  Public  Speaker  should  abstain  entirely  from  the  use  of  To-  , 
baeco 823 

CHAPTER  XC. 

A  Speaker  should  never  resort  to  Stimulating  Liquors  as  aux- 
iliaries to  successful  Speaking 826 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  commentaries  presented  in  this  book  are  based  upon 
two  very  sincere  convictions,  which,  if  fortified  by  the  deduc- 
tions of  an  enlightened  experience,  are  assuredly  deserving 
of  the  most  munificent  and  profound  attention  from  every 
intelligent  mind. 

The  first  of  these  convictions  is,  that  every  human  being 
who  has  been  endowed  by  nature  with  reasoning  powers  of 
an  ordinary  grade  of  respectability,  may  be  rendered  an  effi- 
cient and  useful  debater,  by  a  persevering  application  of  the 
appropriate  disciplinary  appliances,  and  that  accomplished 
orators,  by  the  influence  of  well-applied  culture,  may  be  drawn 
forth  from  the  rough  materials  of  intellectual  nature,  just  as 
statues  of  exquisite  mould  and  finish  are  extracted  from  the 
rugged  marble  by  an  application  of  the  artist's  chisel. 

The  second  conviction  is,  that  the  accomplishment  of  pubKe 
speaking,  instead  of  waving  as  a  proud  and  attractive  plume 
in  the  coronet  of  any  peculiar  class  or  profession,  will  soon 
become  an  universal  attribute  of  the  American  people. 

Our  faith  in  the  justness  of  the  first  conviction,  is  founded 
on  the  fact  that  the  instance  is  exceeding  rare  in  which  history, 
with  her  impartial  pen,  has  recorded,  or  tradition,  with  its 
authentic  voice,  has  reported,  an  example  of  any  person  failing 
to  grasp  the  palm  of  eloquence,  who  aspired  to  it  with  a 
perseverance  which  never  faltered,  and  who  was  endowed  by 
nature  with  powers  of  a  respectable  grade. 

The  reason  why  the  second  conviction  is  believed  to  be 

1 


2  LNTEODUCTION. 

*  *  *  ••  «    . 

*fJV^\  is  ^eeajise.'sgpe^kers  are  bursting  in  rapid  succession 

.  .  upon^the  world,  "who  were  utterly  unknown  to  themselves  or 
;  ;*5elr'£icqua^i7taiK)^*^iii  ^at  character,  until  their  powers  re- 
ceived an  imputse  frofti  some  casual  train  of  circumstances, 
which  started  them  into  life  as  public  speakers.  Tongues  are 
growing  nimble  under  the  spreading  influence  of  the  spirit 
of  liberty,  which  had  formerly  been  as  torpid  as  that  of  the 
toad  or  the  serpent.  The  farmer  who  scatters  grain  upon  the 
broad  surface  of  the  earth  for  our  physical  nutriment,  during 
the  day,  raises  his  voice  in  our  public  meetmgs  at  night,  to 
encourage  his  countrymen  to  sow  broad-cast  the  seeds  of 
education.  The  mechanic,  who  yielded  his  devotions  with 
unrelenting  patience  to  his  tools  by  day,  pleads  in  fervid 
strains  for  the  cause  of  religion,  science,  literature,  and  tem- 
perance at  night.  Every  village  and  neighborhood  in  the 
country  plumes  itself  on  its  orators.  And  there  is  not  an 
aspirant  to  the  post  of  constable,  or  to  an  inferior  clerk- 
ship throughout  the  land,  but  who  has  the  confidence  to  as- 
cend the  hustings,  and  address  his  countrymen  not  only  in 
intelligible,  but  frequently  in  very  intelligent  terms. 

And  why  should  it  not  be  so  1  The  plain  and  unpretend- 
ing farmer  converses  as  sensibly  at  the  fireside,  as  the  politi- 
cian who  is  seeking  his  vote;  and  he  frequently  furnishes 
him  with  bullion,  in  the  shape  of  ideas,  which  is  coined  up 
into  arguments,  and  expended  with  prodigious  power  upon 
the  hustings.  The  mechanic  can  state  his  case  more  intelli- 
gently and  lucidly,  perhaps,  whilst  sitting  on  his  work-bench, 
than  the  attorney  whose  boot  he-  mends.  Why  is  it  that 
these  men,  who  abound  in  the  most  precious  stores  of  wisdom 
and  information  for  private  conversation,  should  not  be  able 
to  ascend  the  hustings,  or  take  a  position  within  the  bar,  and 
speak  at  large  to  the  assembled  multitude  on  topics  of  public 
interest  1  They  are  restrained  from  doing  so  by  the  same 
circumstance  which  deters  children  from  making  their  first 
attempts  to  walk,  by  a  distrust  of  their  powers  to  execute 


INTRODUCTION.  8 

with  intelligence  and  propriety.  When  a  child  shall  have 
perfected  one  step  in  walking,  without  tumbling  down,  he 
will  venture  to  make  another,  and  another,  and  others,  in 
endless  progression,  until  he  shall  acquire  the  pervasive  but 
useful  and  graceful  accomplishment  of  walking.  It  is  thus 
with  the  sensible  speaker  in  ordinary  conversation,  who  may 
never  have  ventured  to  participate  in  public  speaking.  If  he 
once  stands  erect  upon  the  public  stage,  and  utters  one  sensi- 
ble idea  intelligibly,  he  can  proceed  farther  in  the  business, 
and  state  two  appropriate  views  of  a  subject ;  and  he  can 
afterwards  so  perfect  himself  by  practice,  as  to  speak  a8 
long  as  he  pleases.  The  accomplishment  of  speaking,  like 
that  of  dancing,  lies  dormant  in  the  system  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  persons,  who  may  be  charmed  by  the  brilliant  and 
attractive  powers  of  others ;  and,  similar  to  dancing,  this  fac- 
ulty or  power  only  requires  the  application  of  one  vigorous 
and  determined  attempt  to  secure  its  permanent  possession. 
For,  when  once  acquired,  the  faculty  of  public  speaking  is 
never  lost,  unless  an  individual  shall  wantonly  and  capriciously 
throw  it  aside.  Men  of  limited  education,  almost  universally, 
and  frequently  men  .of  the  most  enlightened  understanding, 
who  have  not  acquired  any  experience  in  regard  to  the  pro- 
cess of  speaking,  by  sharing  in  the  labors  it  imposes,  lie  under 
a  gross  misapprehension  respecting  the  difficulties  which  are 
connected  with  this  engaging  exercise.  Persons  destitute  of 
a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  matter,  are  almost  inclined 
to  believe  that  a  superior  degree  of  fluency  of  speech  flows 
directly  from  divine  inspiration,  and  that  where  a  person 
may  not  be  endowed  with  supernatural  gifts  in  this  depart- 
ment of  human  exertion,  that  it  is  aiming  at  an  impracti- 
cable height,  to  reach  after  the  palm  of  eloquence.  And  those 
who  excel  in  the  business  of  speaking,  have  encountered  no 
Herculean  labor  to  expel  the  delusion  which  has  fastened 
itself  on  the  minds  of  their  silent  brethren,  relative  to  the 
difficulties  connected  with  the  acquisition  of  speaking  talents. 


4  INTRODUCJTION. 

Persons  at  the  porch  of  human  existence  often  express 
their  astonishment  at  witnessing  the  capability  which  exists 
in  some  men  of  speaking  several  hours  in  succession  without 
even  a  brief  resignation  of  the  floor,  and  they  marvel  how 
the  thing  can  be  effected.  And  yet,  after  the  lapse  of  a  few 
years  from  the  period  at  which  the  admiration  was  expressed 
at  the  observation  of  this  almost  celestial  accomplishment, 
the  very  same  men  will  be  often  found  speaking  during  the 
space  of  four  or  five  hours  in  succession  themselves.  So 
great  a  revolution  does  a  nearer  approach  to  the  maturity  of 
intellect,  and  the  application  of  appropriate  exertion,  produce 
in  the  sum  of  human  accomplishments.  ~^ 

A  broader  illustration  of  the  deep  and  impenetrable  dark- 
ness in  which  persons  are  often  steeped  in  regard  to  their 
own  accomplishments,  cannot  be  exhibited  than  that  which  is 
sometimes  afforded  by  men  who  suddenly  burst  upon  the 
world  in  a  strain  of  fervid  and  impetuous  eloquence,  with- 
out having  previously  dreamed  of  possessing  the  faculty 
themselves,  or  having  yielded  any  symptom  of  its  existence 
to  others.  ITie  breath  of  life  is  infused  into  their  latent 
powers  by  some  exciting  and  unexpected  circumstance,  and 
the  magic  powers  which  are  thus  started  into  life  are  seldom 
quenched  except  by  the  icy  finger  of  death. 

For  every  human  being  who  possesses  the  power  of  re- 
flection, is  competent  to  fix  in  his  memory  the  leading  views 
or  arguments  which  will  be  reasonably  suggested  by  any 
subject  which  may  deserve  his  attention  or  excite  his  interest 
in  the  business  of  life.  And  if  he  may  be  able  to  fix  these 
views  in  his  mind  and  memory,  he  will  certainly  be  as  com- 
petent to  repeat  them  to  the  public  in  an  intelligible  discourse 
as  ever  a  pupil  in  a  country  academy  was  to  repeat  a  lesson 
to  his  preceptor,  in  the  presence  of  his  class,  which  he  had 
learned  by  the  study  and  reflection  of  the  previous  night. 
For  the  faculty  of  acquisition  brings  into  action  a  power  of 
much  more  elevated  reach,  than  that  of  recitation.     The 


INTKODUCTION.  5 

first  operation  demands  thought,  which  is  the  attribute  of 
philosophers ;  the  last  calls  for  impudence,  which  is  the  prop- 
erty of  fools.  In  relation  to  the  possession  of  the  gift  of 
eloquence  by  a  large  number  of  our  race,  unknown  to  them- 
selves, a  beautiful  and  touching  fragment,  from  one  of  the 
sweetest  poets  in  the  English  tongue,  is  eminently  applicable : 

"  Some  mute  inglorious  Milton  here  may  rest, 
Some  Cromwell  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood." 

If,  then,  every  person  who  is  capable  of  reasoning  mentally 
can  be  qualified,  by  persevering  practice,  for  the  business  of 
intelligibly  conveying  his  reasoning  through  a  medium  of 
words  to  others,  it  is  a  matter  of  crowning  importance  in 
this  noble  enterprise,  that  he  should  prepare  himself  by  the 
adoption  of  the  essential  preliminary  measures,  for  perform- 
ing this  duty  agreeably,  gracefully,  and  efficiently.  And 
Lord  Chesterfield,  in  those  letters  to  his  son,  which  have 
acquired  a  celebrity  commensurate  with  the  diffusion  of  let- 
ters, has  somewhere  submitted  some  remarks  on  the  bland- 
ishments of  ncianner  and  the  melodies  of  intonation,  which 
might  be  appropriately  recorded  on  a  tablet  of  marble  in 
characters  of  gold.  He  says  to  his  son,  in  substance,  "  that 
there  was  a  member  of  the  popular  branch  of  Parliament, 
who  never  arose  to  address  the  house  without  at  once  com- 
manding the  most  breathless  attention,  and  yet  that  this 
member  never  submitted  any  views  of  a  question  more 
instructive  than  those  which  were  spoken  by  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  members."  And  he  asks  his  son,  in  continuation 
of  his  remarks,  "  What  particular  quality  it  was  in  this  mem- 
ber that  constituted  the  source  of  his  fascination  1"  and  he 
answers  the  question  himself,  by  observing  that,  "  it  was  his 
pleasing  address."  He  then  proceeds  by  stating  to  his  son 
that  "  there  was  another  who  never  opened  his  lips  in  ad- 
dressing the  house  without  shedding  light  on  every  question 
he  touched,  and  yet  that  the  homage  of  a  very  slender  share 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

of  attention  was  paid,  to  him  whilst  speaking."  And  he 
asks  his  son  in  continuation,  "Why  this  was  sol"  He 
answers  this  interrogatory  also,  by  remarking,  "  that  it  was 
owing  to  an  imperfect  delivery  and  a  graceless  manner." 
And  we  might  explore  the  speaking  world  from  one  of  its 
extremities  to  the  other,  and  we  would  behold  the  proposition 
written  in  characters  as  bright  and  as  intelligible  as  sun- 
beams, that  music  and  grace  impart  to  the  business  of 
speaking  a  charm  equal  in  fascination,  and  infinitely  more 
enduring  in  its  influence,  than  these  qualities  ever  lend  to 
halls  resounding  with  the  sweetest  and  most  cultivated  music. 

Whilst  recurring  to  the  charm  exerted  by  a  musical  de- 
livery and  an  engaging  manner,  jt  may  not  be  considered  a 
culpable  degree  of  minuteness,  on  a  subject  of  such  vital 
concern  to  the  best  interests  of  humanity,  to  present  a  few 
illustrations  of  the  matter,  both  from  historical  and  traditional 
reports.  It  has  been  said  of  Burke,  that  with  all  his  strength 
and  solidity  of  reasoning  and  magnificence  of  phrase,  that  it 
was  his  custom,  from  the  effect  of  an  ungainly  delivery,  to 
send  the  members  of  the  English  House  of  Commons  to  their 
dinner  whenever  he  addressed  the  house ;  whilst  Lord  Chat- 
ham, (however  great  his  far-reaching  and  intuitive  wisdom 
may  have  been,)  who  was  greatly  the  inferior  of  Burke  in 
solid  argument  and  varied  attainment,  almost  universally 
chained  the  members  to  their  seats  by  his  rich,  sweet,  and 
varied  tones. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  divines  in  this  country,  for 
the  saintly  sanctity  of  his  life,  as  well  as  for  the  classic  pur- 
ity and  elegance  of  his  diction  in  speaking,  once  followed 
in  preaching  an  exceedingly  illiterate  clergyman,  who  was 
yet  favored  in  possessing  a  most  melodious  intonation  of 
voice,  in  the  process  of  delivery;  and  the  cultivated  preacher 
cleared  the  church,  in  a  very  brief  interval,  of  a  congre- 
gation which  had  been  previously  held  in  a  state  of  death- 
like silence  for  an  hour  or  two  by  his  illiterate  predecessor 


INTKODUCTION.  7 

on  the  stage.  What  was  the  occasion  of  this  graceless  and 
unbecoming  desertion  of  their  spiritual  counsellor,  on  the 
part  of  the  congregation  1  It  was  the  cold  and  lifeless  enun- 
ciation of  the  one  speaker,  following  immediately  in  the  train 
of  the  musical  and  fervid  tones  of  another. 

The  voice  may  be  legitimately  regarded,  then,  as  far  as 
physical  agencies  are  estimated  in  the  business  of  speaking, 
as  the  exuberant  spring  of  a  speaker's  fascination ;  for  a 
voice  of  music  not  only  insinuates  its  own  incidental  charm 
into  the  heart  of  an  assembly,  but  it  almost  universally  bears 
with  it  the  blended  charm  of  an  engaging  and  graceful  man- 
ner. For  whilst  it  will  prove  utterly  impracticable  for  a 
speaker,  who  possesses  a  voice  deficient  in  fulness  and  flexi- 
bility, to  execute  graceful  gestures,  the  occurrence  will  prove 
equally  rare,  of  finding  a  speaker  blessed  with  a  full  and 
melodious  voice,  who  can  indulge  in  any  other  than  flexible 
gestures,  unless  he  shall  perversely,  choose  to  do  so,  con- 
trary to  •  the  organic  structure  of  the  human  system,  for  in 
this  particular  the  voice  and  the  hands  move  in  sympathetic 
unison  together,  as  has  been  demonstrated  in  the  sixteenth 
chapter  of  this  book. 

If  the  voice  may  be  justly  regarded  as  the  principal  source 
of  that  power  which  is  wielded  by  a  speaker  over  human 
opinion  and  action,  no  rational  or  innocent  measure  should 
be  omitted  which  may  promise  to  bring  an  accession  of  im- 
provement to  that  important  instrument  of  power.  And 
the  principle  is  here  assumed,  that  the  voice  is  equally  as 
susceptible  to  improvement  from  the  influence  of  sterner  dis- 
ciplinary exercises,  as  those  which  are  imposed  upon  the  organs 
of  speech  by  ordinary  conversation ;  as  the  mind  is  accessi- 
ble to  an  augmentation  of  its  vigor  from  the  effect  of  severer 
exercises  than  those  imposed  upon  it  by  the  reading  of  any 
plain  and  simple  author,  or  as  the  body  is  to  be  improved  in 
its  measure  of  energy  and  elasticity  by  the  circumstance  of 
being    frequently    brought   in    contact   with    more   trying 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

exercises  than  those  involved  in  the  ordinary  motion  of 
walking. 

The  proposition  is  advanced  in  the  commentaries  contained 
in  this  book,  that  the  organs  of  speech,  which  constitute  an 
integral  portion  of  the  human  machine,  are  as  greatly  im- 
proved in  the  work  of  producing  sweet  and  agreeable  sounds, 
by  being  frequently  subjected  to  the  severe  discipline  of 
declamation  or  singing  on  a  high  key,  as  the  limbs  of  the 
body  are  magnified  in  their  power  to  execute  swift,  graceful, 
and  energetic  movements,  by  the  application  and  training  of 
the  exercises  imposed  by  a  gymnasium.  The  most  surprising 
corporeal  feats  or  evolutions  which  can  be  displayed  to  an 
admiring  assembly,  by  any  member  of  our  race,  may  be 
regarded  as  an  effect  produced  by  a  specific  agency.  And  it 
requires  but  a  limited  expenditure  of  words  to  demonstrate 
the  proposition,  that  in  proportion  as  the  productive  power 
of  the  agency  is  enhanced,  in  the  same  rr.tio  the  effect  must 
be  pushed  forward  towards  that  degree  of  perfection  which  it 
is  capable  of  reaching.  If  the  limbs  shall  be  carried  from 
humbler  degrees  of  elasticity,  to  those  of  a  more  elevated 
grade,  in  almost  endless  progression,  by  the  exacting  exer- 
cises of  a  gymnasium,  it  is  evident  that  those  evolutions  of 
the  body  which  depend  for  their  perfect  execution  upon  the 
activity  of  the  performer  of  them,  must  keep  pace  in  their 
advances  to  perfection  with  the  extension  of  the  activity  of 
the  frame  that  is  to  execute  them.  The  human  voice  may 
be  denominated  an  effect  of  supervening  agencies,  as  justly 
as  the  motions  which  are  produced  by  the  limbs  of  the  body. 
It  is  a  motion  of  the  organs  of  speech,  caused  by  an  exertion 
of  the  human  will,  which  produces  the  sounds  of  the  human 
voice  conveyed  in  music  and  in  speech.  And  although  the 
organs  of  speech  are  not  as  clearly  revealed  to  the  vision, 
from  their  want  of  that  extension  which  pertains  to  the  limbs 
of  the  body,  yet  their  agency  in  producing  the  effect  of  sound 
is  equally  as  positive  as  that  which  is  exerted  by  the  limbs  of 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

the  body  in  the  production  of  motion ;  and  the  sounds  when 
produced  by  the  organs  of  speech,  are  just  as  perceptible  to 
the  sense  of  hearing  as  the  motions  of  the  limbs  are  to  the 
visual  organs.  It  follows  as  a  necessary  sequence  from  the 
premises,  that  should  the  organs  of  speech  be  improved  in 
their  strength  and  flexibility,  by  the  disciplinary  training 
imposed  by  declamation  and  vocal  music,  that  the  sounds 
which  are  produced  by  agents  thus  improved,  must  corre- 
spond in  their  approaches  to  perfection  with  the  agents  them- 
selves. 

Another  illustration  of  the  immense  improvement  which 
may  be  imparted  to  the  voice  by  the  imposition  of  discip- 
linary exercises  on  the  organs  of  speech,  is  presented  in  that 
intellectual  development  of  our  race,  which  is  constantly 
going  forward  under  the  influence  of  the  sterner  sciences, 
and  the  ancient  classics.  There  is  a  permanent  share  of  ac- 
tivity and  strength  communicated  to  the  human  intellect  by 
the  discipline  of  mathematical  science,  which  will  broadly 
assert  its  presence  to  the  world,  and  to  the  subject  of  the 
discipline  himself,  when  he  shall  be  summoned  to  perform 
the  grave  and  important  duties  of  life.  But  the  votary  of 
these  sciences  may  obtain  a  satisfactory  revelation  of  the 
benefits  conferred  by  them  upon  his  intellectual  powers,  long 
previous  to  the  time  when  he  shall  be  called  to  participate 
in  the  more  solemn  duties  of  life. 

Immediately  after  a  student  shall  have  taxed  the  powers 
of  his  mind  by  the  study  and  solution  of  an  abstruse  prob- 
lem in  fluxions,  or  in  conic  sections,  let  him  open  a  volume 
of  some  historical  work  which  has  formerly  been  regarded 
by  him  as  being  as  dry  as  the  dust  of  the  earth  itself,  and 
if  the  work  is  commended  by  any  intrinsic  value  or  interest, 
he  will  find  it  as  charming  as  the  legends  of  some  beautiful  fic- 
tion, from  the  facility  with  which  he  reads  it  in  immediate  con- 
trast with  the  scientific  exercises,  which  he  has  just  laid  aside. 
And  after  having  taxed  the  corporeal  functions,  in  running 

1* 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

with  considerable  celerity  up  steep  ascents,  in  jumping  over 
elevated  bars,  or  wide  rivulets,  or  ditches,  or  in  raising  heavy 
bodies  from  the  earth,  a  person  will  find,  after  a  brief  inter 
val  of  repose,  that  the  simple  exercises  of  life,  such  as  walk- 
ing, jumping  any  ordinary  distance,  or  performing  any  com- 
mon operation  which  requires  the "  application  of  the  hands, 
will  be  performed  with  a  large  increase  of  ease.  This  tran- 
sition is  brought  about  not  merely  by  the  effect  of  contrast 
between  the  relative  exercises,  but  the  muscles  of  the  body 
will  have  experienced  a  positive  accession  to  their  strength 
and  elasticity,  from  the  influence  of  the  previous  exercises. 
And  where  the  disciplinary  exercises  are  continued  in  a 
proper  degree  of  moderation  and  regularity,  the  amount  of 
strength  and  activity  added  to  the  limbs  will  become  per- 
petual. 

It  is  asserted  in  this  treatise,  that  the  organs  of  speech  are 
fitted  for  the  production  of  superior  sounds  to  what  they 
would  have  otherwise  been  adequate  by  the  severe  and  acute 
exercise  of  singing  and  declaiming  on  the  highest  key  of  the 
voice,  just  in  the  same  way  that  the  mind  is  trained  for  the 
better  and  more  skilful  performance  of  the  whole  catalogue 
of  human  duties,  by  subjecting  its  faculties  to  the  maximum 
severities  of  scientific  training,  and  just  as  the  limbs  of  the 
body  are  prepared  for  performing,  with  greater  alacrity  and 
ease,  all  the  simple  duties  of  life  which  tax  the  corporeal 
functions. 

Immediately  after  a  pupil  shall  have  stretched  his  vocal 
functions  to  their  utmost  point  of  tension,  by  singing  or  de- 
claiming on  the  highest  pitch  of  the  voice,  when  he  shall 
have  indulged  himself  in  an  interval  of  rest,  he  will  find 
that  he  can  read  or  speak  with  infinitely  greater  fulness  and 
clearness  than  he  was  able  to  attain  immediately  before  the 
exercises  in  question  were  indulged  in.  And  should  he 
subject  his  voice  to  that  sort  of  severe  training  daily,  or 
even  occasionally  through  life,  he  will  find  that  it  will  be 


INTRODUCTION.        '  11 

permanently  improved  in  its  music,  depth,  flexibility,  and 
power  of  modulation.  And  as  the  most  elevated  keys  in 
singing  and  declamation,  when  the  force  of  the  voice  shall 
be  fully  exerted  on  them,  impose  the  greatest  amount  of  la- 
bor on  the  organs  of  speech,  so  the  lower  keys,  in  a  gradual 
descent  to  the  natural,  middle,  or  conversational  pitch,  im- 
pose proportionally  a  less  amount  of  labor  on  the  organs  of 
speech,  when  singing  or  declamation  shall  be  practiced  on 
them.  And  it  will  be  vastly  beneficial  to  a  pupil  in  elocu- 
tion, to  take  this"  descending  scale,  and  practice  his  voice  on 
the  different  keys  in  declamation  and  singing,  for  each  key 
higher  than  the  conversational  or  middle  key,  affords  some 
degree  of  expansion  to  the  voice. 

And  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  pupil  ought  to 
subject  himself  to  an  exercise  in  declaiming  and  in  reading 
on  the  conversational  or  middle  key  universally,  when  he 
can  do  so  shortly  after  having  practiced  his  voice  on  the 
higher  key,  for  this  branch  of  practice  seems  to  be  as  essen- 
tial to  preserve  the  natural  key  of  the  Toice  in  speaking,  as 
walking  is  in  exercises  of  the  body  to  secure  the  equable 
tenor  of  its  motions.  And  there  is  some  danger  to  be  ap- 
prehended, where  the  voice  is  frequently  practiced  on  the 
higher  keys,  that  the  pupil  will  involuntarily  slide  into  the 
adoption  of  those  keys  as  a  permanent  habit  in  speaking, 
imless  they  should  be  followed  immediately  by  exercises  on 
the  natural  key  of  the  voice.  And  it  will  not  be  possible 
for  him  ever  to  speak  with  perfect  ease  on  the  more  elevated 
keys  of  the  voice. 

A  very  lucid  illustration  of  the  benefit  which  may-  be  de- 
rived by  the  human  voice  from  an  adoption  of  the  disciplin- 
ary exercises  which  are  recommended  in  this  treatise,  may 
be  drawn  from  a  reference  to  several  objects  which  are  very 
familiar  in  the  practical  duties  of  life.  Scarcely  any  observ- 
ing mind  is  ignorant  of  the  very  perceptible  improvement  of 
its  tones,  which  is  imparted  to  an  ordinary  church-bell,  by  a 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

long  application  of  the  clapper  to  it  in  the  usual  process  of 
ringing.  Every  person  who  possesses  even  a  limited  con- 
ception of  the  nature  and  properties  of  musical  instruments, 
is  conscious  of  the  vast  improvement  which  is  communicated 
to  violins  and  flutes  by  constantly  subjecting  them  in  the 
hands  of  a  careful  performer  to  the  process  of  being 
played  on. 

But  the  favorable  change  which  is  usually  produced  in  the 
tones  of  the  instruments  just  referred  to,  by  the  fact  of  being 
long  used,  seems  to  result  from  a  clarification  of  the  tones 
of  these  instruments,  in  wearing  from  their  inner  surfaces, 
by  the  constant  attrition  of  sound  upon  them,  any  roughness 
or  slight  excrescences  which  invisibly  to  the  naked  eye  may 
exist  upon  these  surfaces.  This  effect  bears  a  striking  an- 
alogy to  that  clarification  of  the  notes  of  the  human  voice, 
which  is  often  temporarily  produced  by  clearing  it  from  a 
pre-existing  hoarseness,  by  a  short  subjection  to  sharp  exer- 
cises in  declamation  or  music. 

But  there  are  other  objects  connected  with  the  business 
and  the  pleasures  of  life  which  afford  a  very  simple  and  clear 
illustration  of  the  vastly-augmented  expansion,  depth  and 
flexibility  which  are  yielded  to  the  human  voice  by  the  exer- 
cises of  declamation  and  singing  with  the  utmost  strength 
of  the  lungs  on  a  key  of  great  elevation. 

We  will  in  the  first  place  adopt,  for  the  purpose  of  the 
illustration  just  suggested,  the  instance  of  an  accordion, 
which,  when  its  possessor  first  commences  using  it,  may  be 
stiff  and  difficult  from  the  want  of  flexibility -in  the  leather 
of  which  it  is  usually  composed,  to  pull  to  that  degree  of 
extension  from  one  side  to  the  other,  which  may  be  essential 
to  its  complete  inflation ;  and  to  the  production  of  the  proper 
sounds  in  music.  But  when  the  performer  shall  have  fre- 
quently seized  th«  sides  of  the  accordion,  and  stretched  it  to 
its  utmost  power  of  tension  in  producing  music  from  it,  the 
instrument  becomes  so  perfectly  flexible  as  to  open  mechan- 


INTKODUCTION.  18 

ically  when  used  in  playing,  the  proper  extensions,  curves, 
folds,  and  contractions,  so  as  to  render  the  matter  of  per- 
forming on  it  quite  an  easy  task  to  one  who  may  be  at  all 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  operation. 

The  preceding  illustration  corresponds  as  nearly  as  any 
illustration  drawn  from  material  nature  can  accord  with  the 
heneficial  changes  which  may  be  wrought  in  the  human  voice 
by  an  application  of  that  training  to  the  vocal  functions, 
which  is  conveyed  by  a  habitual  resort  to  the  exercises  of 
singing  and  declamation. 

But  the  shoes  which  cover  our  feet,  and  the  gloves  which 
we  wear  on  our  hands,  exhibit  in  very  strong  relief  the  ex- 
tension and  the  flexibility  which  is  produced  in  the  organs  of 
speech  by  the  preceding  exercises.  The  leather  which  enters 
into  the  composition  of  a  pair  of  shoes,  may  be  so  unyielding 
when  they  are  first  obtained  by  their  owner,  as  to  render 
them  not  only  exceedingly  difficult  to  get  on,  but  when  ac- 
tually put  on,  to  exert  a  very  stringent  and  paiflful  pressure 
on  the  feet.  But  when  the  operation  of  pulling  them  on 
shall  be  daily  repeated,  and  they  are  worn  for  some  time, 
they  become  as  yielding  and  flexible  as  a  bit  of  India  rubber. 
A  pair  of  gloves  when  first  purchased,  may  demand  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  pains  and  exertion  to  fit  them  to  the 
hands  of  the  wearer.  But  when  he  shall  have  thrust  his 
hands  into  them  a  few  times,  and  subjected  them  to  the  wear 
of  a  few  hours,  they  become  adjusted  to  his  hands  just  as  if 
they  had  been  made  for  him  expressly. 

The  voice,  under  the  influence  of  the  exercises  prescribed 
in  this  book,  becomes  just  as  flexible  and  just  as  controllable 
to  its  possessor  as  any  of  the  articles  or  objects  which  we 
have  just  mentioned  may  be  rendered  by  use  in  the  hands 
of  their  owner. 

In  subjecting  the  vocal  organs  to  the  process  of  tension,  by 
a  perseverance  in  the  use  of  the  proper  disciplinary  exercises, 
they  receive  a  degree  of  extension  and  flexibility  which  not 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

only  increases  the  strength  of  the  voice,  but  which  grafts  on 
it  the  faculty  of  modulation  to  such  an  extent,  that  it  may 
yield  a  measure  of  sound  which  may  be  regulated  by  the 
discretion  of  its  possessor.  It  may  be  enabled  to  indulge 
in  the  deep  tones,  as  well  as  the  high  and  the  sharp  ones, 
the  soft  and  sweet  as  well  as  the  loud  and  vehement  ones. 

But  in  the  prosecution  of  the  object  now  in  view,  a  very 
satisfactory  class  of  illustrations  may  be  derived  from  the 
practical  philosophy  of  the  human  voice  itself.  We  may  be 
enabled  almost  constantly  to  observe  the  vast  progression 
both  in  strength  and  melody,  which  occurs  in  the  voices  of 
those  who  frequently  exercise  the  lungs  in  musical  perform-^ 
ances  in  union  with  the  choirs  of  churches.  We  recognize 
the  vast  revolution  which  may  be  produced  in  the  voices  of 
those  who  are  subjected  to  the  task  of  hallooing  in  answer  to 
calls  which  may  be  made  upon  them  in  the  character  of  ferry- 
men at  fords  on  rivers.  The  voices  of  such  persons,  by  the 
fact  of  being  frequently  exercised  in  hallooing,  acquire  inci- 
dentally a  great  increase  of  compass  and  depth.  Persons 
also  who  have  long  been  subjected  to  the  necessity  of  speak- 
ing loudly,  amidst  the  noise  of  mills  and  factories  and  the 
din  of  workshops,  exhibit  a  vast  reinforcement  to  the  original 
vigor  of  their  voices.  Those  at  all  familiar  with  the  habits 
and  peculiarities  of  the  African  race,  must  have  recognized, 
even  with  the  aid  of  a  very  superficial  observation,  how  much 
their  voices  are  almost  universally  improved  in  compass, 
depth,  and  music  of  tone,  by  the  daily  habit  of  singing  and 
hallooing  about  the  farms  of  their  owners.  The  world  has 
been  long  apprized  too  of  the  immense  energy  wliich  is  added 
to  voices  naturally  feeble,  by  the  practice  of  daily  speaking 
in  the  open  air,  or  even  within  the  walls  of  churches.  The 
itinerating  system  of  the  Methodist  denomination  affords 
abundant  examples  of  the  improvement  referred  to.  And  to 
close  in  this  connection  the  consideration  of  examples,  it  will 
occur  to  every  member  of  the  bar,  how  much  the  voice  suf- 


INTKODUCTION.  15 

fers,  in  both  its  music  and  flexibility,  in  consequence  of  that 
long  suspension  of  its  usual  exercises  which  flows  from  a 
vacation  between  the  courts.  When  the  labors  of  a  lawyer 
are  resumed  again,  upon  the  close  of  one  of  these  vacations, 
until  his  voice  shall  be  disciplined  afresh  by  the  exercises  of 
the  bar,  he  will  imagine  that  he  has  one  of  the  most  unman- 
ageable voices  on  earth. 

The  instances  of  improvement  recognized  in  the  powers  of 
the  human  voice  which  have  been  submitted  in  the  preceding 
lines,  were  obtained  merely  as  an  incident  to  other  avo- 
cations and  duties.  They  came  to  the  recipients  of  these 
improvements  unsought,  and  involuntarily  to  them.  They 
consulted  no  lights  thrown  upon  the  path  of  elocution  and 
music  by  the  beneficence  of  art.  They  only  enjoyed  the 
benefit  of  two  exercises  for  the  voice — those  on  the  loud  and 
the  high  keys ;  and  they  paid  no  attention  to  the  application 
and  adjustment  of  these.  They  adopted  no  discipline  for  the 
voice,  tending  to  prepare  it  for  the  production  of  the  softer 
and  sweeter  notes.  They  subjected  the  organs  of  speech  to 
no  exercises  on  the  intermediate  keys  between  the  high  and 
the  low.  The  pupil  in  elocution  may  ask  himself  the  ques- 
tion— ^If  the  voice  of  man  may  experience  involuntarily,  and 
merely  as  an  incident  to  the  performance  of  other  duties, 
such  an  enlargement  of  its  powers,  what  indefinite  accessions 
to  its  improvement  may  it  not  receive  from  the  use  of  the 
appliances  which  have  been  prescribed  by  the  enlightened 
and  approved  experience  of  past  times  discreetly  and  artistic- 
ally applied  1 

It  must  not  be  imagined,  from  the  degree  of  earnestness 
with  which  exercises  on  the  highest  key  of  the  voice  have 
been  enjoined  in  this  treatise,  that  the  sounds  or  notes  pro- 
duced by  the  voice  when  exercised  on  those  keys,  are  intended 
to  be  conveyed  into  the  business  of  practical  speaking.  They 
are  generally  too  sharp  and  straining  to  interweave  with  the 
simple  and  prevailing  uses  of  the  voice.     They  are  intended 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

merely  as  exercises  to  give  expansion,  depth,  and  flexibility 
to  the  voice. 

The  sweet  tones  produced  in  the  preliminary  exercises — 
those  which  possess  a  glassy  melody,  and  which  convey  a 
music  similar  to  that  produced  by  the  waving  sounds  of  the 
clearest  notes  of  a  bell — are  those  which  the  pupil  has  to 
transfer  from  his  disciplinary  training,  to  the  business  of 
grave  and  practical  speaking. 

And  there  is  no  proposition  more  true,  than  that  a  voice 
constantly  habituated  to  the  production  of  sweet  and  musical 
tones,  in  the  exercises  which  are  imposed  for  the  purpose  of 
discipline,  can  be  made  to  transfer  the  same  tones  to  the 
business  of  speaking.  The  production  of  such  tones  con- 
stantly in  exercise  will,  in  the  course  of  time,  ripen  into  a 
fixed  habit,  and  will  introduce  itself  into  other  exercises  of 
the  voice,  and  will  blend  itself  with  them.  The  nerves  and 
muscles  about  the  throat — the  organs  of  speech — ^become 
influenced  in  such  a  way  in  the  exertion  of  frequently  pro- 
ducing such  tones,  that  they  at  length  receive  an  inclination, 
formation,  or  curve,  adapted  to  the  yielding  of  them.  The 
act  of  producing  them  in  the  grave  and  important  business 
of  speaking  on  the  active  stage  of  life,  after  having  habitually 
repeated  them  in  exercises  adopted  merely  for  the  purposes 
of  training  the  voice,  will  be  similar  to  the  act  of  transferring 
by  a  sportsman  that  precise  degree  of  accuracy  which  he  may 
have  acquired  in  the  exercise  of  shooting  at  a  mark,  to  the 
practical  business  of  shooting  at  living  objects.  For  the  organs 
of  speech,  like  other  materials  in  nature  which  yield  under  the 
force  of  pressure  which  may  be  exerted  upon  them,  are  ex- 
panded and  rendered  flexible  by  the  stress  of  the  voice  being 
frequently  brought  to  bear  upon  them ;  and  when  a  certain 
inflexion  or  curvature  of  the  organs  of  speech  is  caused  by 
the  force  applied  in  producing  a  melodious  tone  of  voice,  that 
same  inflexion,  curvature,  or  yielding  of  the  organs  of  speech 
will  occur  again,  whenever  the  same  measure  of  force  shall 


INTEODUCTION.  17 

be  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  and  consequently  the  sweet 
tone  or  sound  will  follow  as  the  result,  until  it  shall  become 
as  mechanical  as  any  tune  produced  on  the  flute  or  violin. 

The  perplexing  difficulty  which  meets  a  great  proportion 
of  speakers  at  the  very  threshold  of  their  exertions  in  speak- 
ing, is  what  appears  to  be  on  some  occasions  a  level  surface, 
and  on  other  occasions  a  convex  surface  about  the  root  of 
the  tongue,  that  prevents  him,  let  him  exert  himself  as  he 
may,  in  sounding  the  voice,  from  producing  deep,  full,  and 
swelling  tones.  At  his  early  essays  in  speaking,  the  inevita- 
ble product  of  the  student's  voice,  will  be  superficial  notes. 

The  speaker,  under  the  experience  of  the  preceding  diffi- 
culties, eagerly  covets  a  hollow  space,  or  concave  surface  in 
that  portion  of  the  throat,  about  the  root  of  the  tongue, 
which  will  afford  room  for  creating  and  sending  forth  deep, 
mellow,  and  full  tones,  in  the  business  of  speaking.  What 
will  appear  to  a  practitioner  or  pupil,  to  be  a  cavity  or  hol- 
low about  the  root  of  the  tongue,  will  be  produced  by  a  long 
perseverance  in  exercising  his  voice  with  its  utmost  strength, 
on  the  most  elevated  key  in  declamation,  and  in  singing. 
Which  exercises  should  be  invariably  followed  by  exercises 
on  the  middle  and  lower  keys,  in  order  to  blend  softness 
with  depth  and  strength  in  the  tones  of  the  voice. 

The  pupil  will  find  exercises  on  the  high  key  of  the  voice, 
almost  universally  followed  by  an  apparent  deepening  or 
concave  curvation  of  the  surface,  about  the  root  of  the 
tongue.  But  this  sense  of  hollowness  will  disappear,  and 
will  not  become  permanent  in  its  duration,  until  it  shall  be 
habitually  contracted  from  a  long  perseverance  in  practicing 
the  voice  on  the  highest  key. 

And  whilst  the  subject  of  full  and  swelling  sounds  of  the 
voice  is  under  consideration,  it  may  not  prove  a  culpable 
expenditure  of  time,  to  suggest  to  the  pupil,  that  the  voice 
is  qualified  to  produce  full  and  melodious  sounds  in  their 
greatest  perfection,  by  frequently  exercising  it  on  the  highest 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

key.  But  sounds  of  this  description  are  rarely  if  ever 
yielded  in  perfection  by  the  voice,  in  the  article  of  being 
trained  on  the  high  key.  Full  and  swelling  sounds  are  yield- 
ed in  their  best  form,  and  in  their  utmost  reach  and  exten- 
sion, when  the  voice  is  pitched  on  the  natural  or  middle  key, 
and  exerted  on  that  key.  The  notes  produced  by  the  voice, 
when  exerted  on  its  highest  key,  are  too  sharp  to  admit  of 
ftilness  or  softness.  Hence  follows  the  necessity  of  practic- 
ing the  voice  frequently  on  the  middle  or  natural  key,  in 
order  to  render  the  production  of  full  and  swelling  sounds, 
a  permanent  accomplishment  or  property  of  the  voice. 

If  the  voice  of  a  speaker  should  habitually  yield  feeble, 
effeminate,  or  treble  notes  in  speaking,  the  practitioner  or 
pupil  may  remedy  this  defect,  and  render  the  voice  more 
masculine  and  energetic  in  its  tones,  by  exercising  it  with 
frequency,  on  the  high  key  in  declamation  and  in  song,  by 
hallooing  loudly  when  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  or  the  re- 
tirement of  the  fields,  and  by  putting  in  requisition  the  vari- 
ous exercises  which  have  been  prescribed  in  this  work. 

The  question  is  often  propounded,  whether  a  voice  natu- 
rally extended  in  its  compass,  and  soft  and  musical  in  its  tones, 
can  be  improved  by  an  application  of  the  rules  of  art. 
There  is  no  proposition  more  true,  than  that  a  voice  of  this 
description  may  be  improved  by  culture  and  discipline,  and 
it  is  an  affirmation  equally  true,  that  even  a  very  superior 
voice  requires  the  assistance  of  art,  to  perfect  its  powers. 
The  voice,  in  this  respect,  is  like  the  limbs  of  the  body. 
One  individual  may  throw  another  an  immense  distance  be- 
hind him  in  a  foot  race,  and  yet  in  dancing,  or  in  any  other 
exercise  of  the  limbs  which  might  be  perfected  by  the  ap- 
plication of  art  and  skill,  the  person  thus  distanced  in  a  foot 
race,  would  perhaps  surpass  his  elastic  and  nimble-footed 
neighbor,  so  far  as  to  shame  him  into  insignificance.  So 
great  is  the  efficacy  of  science,  practice,  and  method,  in  reg- 
ulating, and  in  disposmg  to  advantage,  the  functions  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

human  frame.  The  result  of  discipline  and  cultivation,  will 
be  found  as  perceptible  in  relation  to  the  finest  human  voice. 
Unregulated  and  uncultivated  music,  melody,  and  softness, 
in  a  human  voice,  may  be  appreciated  for  the  agreeable  in- 
tonations which  the  combination  of  these  qualities  in  one 
voice  will  be  likely  to  produce.  And  a  sparkling  eye,  a 
crimson  cheek,  and  regular  features,  planted  by  nature  in  a 
rustic  face,  will  excite  pleasing  sensations  in  the  breast  of  a 
beholder.  But  to  invest  such  qualities  in  the  human  face 
with  that  just  measure  of  power  and  influence  which  they 
are  capable  of  yielding,  they  must  receive  their  crowning 
graces  and  finishing  touches  from  the  hand  of  art.  It  is  thus 
with  the  human  voice.  Its  inherent  possession  of  the  prop- 
erties of  softness  and  melody,  without  the  ability  to  give  a 
specific  application  or  direction  to  these  advantages,  accord- 
ing to  the  pleasure  of  their  possessor,  renders  them,  to  some 
extent,  vain  and  nugatory  gifts.  Even  the  wild  birds  of 
song  may  be  enabled,  under  the  influence  of  care  and  cul- 
ture, to  yield  sweeter  and  more  varied  notes.  What  incal- 
culably greater  benefits  must  the  voice  of  man  derive  from 
culture,  when  he,  in  his  highest  state  of  development,  is  the 
noblest  and  proudest  monument  of  cultivation  and  art.  A 
large  proportion  of  those  who  contemplate  devoting  their 
lives  to  the  business  of  speaking,  appear  to  repose  with  a 
spirit  of  perfect  contentment  on  the  conviction  that  their  ac- 
complishments in  elocution  are  fully  developed  and  complet- 
ed by  the  instructions  on  that  subject  which  are  incidentally 
imparted  to  students  during  an  academic  or  collegiate  ca- 
reer. This  supposition  is  as  shadowy  as  it  would  be  to  sup* 
pose  that  a  student  of  divinity,  law,  or  medicine,  was  per- 
fected in  either  of  these  sciences,  by  the  preliminary  lessons 
which  might  be  received  under  the  roof  of  a  preceptor. 
The  discipline  received  in  either  of  the  professional  sciences, 
from  a  preceptor,  may  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  porch 
of  entry  to  a  temple,  in  which  the  most  precious  and  occult 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

mysteries  were  concealed.  The  instiniction  received  by  a 
student  on  the  subject  of  elocution  during  a  college  course, 
is  not  designed  by  those  who  administer  the  instruction,  to 
be  final  to  any  greater  extent  than  that  which  is  communicat- 
ed in  the  various  other  branches  of  education.  Elocution, 
as  it  is  usually  taught  in  colleges,  is  merely  incidental.  It 
is  rarely  taught  as  a  distinct  branch  of  education,  in  which  a 
professor  is  to  devote  his  whole  time  and  talents  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  style  and  manner  of  a  pupil  in  delivering  a 
speech.  Most  universities  are  liberally  provided  with  the 
means  of  instruction  in  the  department  of  rhetoric.  But 
here  the  beauties  of  diction  are  cultivated  to  the  almost  en- 
tire exclusion  of  that  ample  and  unremitted  care  which 
should  be  bestowed  on  the  voice  and  action.  It  is  not  de- 
nied that  the  instructions  given  during  a  college  course,  pos- 
sess their  efficacy  in  giving  the  general  principles  of  the  art 
of  speaking.  But  if  the  seeds  are  permitted  to  perish  and 
decay  in  the  ground,  without  subsequent  and  continued  cul- 
ture, the  labors  thus  expended  upon  the  pupil,  are  worse 
than  thrown  away.  Unless  he  yields  as  devoted  a  share  of 
attention  to  the  voice  and  manner,  amidst  the  active  duties 
of  life,  as  he  does  to  his  intellectual  interests,  he  never  will 
attain  the  maximum  of  his  powers  as  a  speaker. 

The  general  course  of  remarks  pursued  in  this  introduc- 
tion, might  incline  the  reader  to  believe  that  the  voice  and 
the  action  of  a  speaker,  the  physical  agencies  employed  in 
the  business  of  speaking,  had  received  an  exclusive  share  of 
attention  in  the  chapters  which  are  comprehended  in  this 
work.  This  is  so  far  from  being  the  case,  that  we  think  it 
may  be  safely  assumed  that  much  the  larger  proportion  of 
the  ensuing  pages  have  been  devoted  to  a  consideration  of 
those  branches  of  the  business  of  speaking,  which  require  the 
expenditure  of  thought  and  the  application  of  what  may  be 
deemed  pure  intellection.  It  is  true  the  voice  has  been 
extensively  considered,  but  this  important  agent  in  the  ao 


INTEODUCTION.  21 

complishment  of  speaking,  has  been  heretofore  so  much 
neglected  both  by  public  speakers  themselves,  and  in  the 
works  devoted  to  the  subject  of  elocution,  that  we  could  not 
consent  to  dispose  of  it  with  an  exposition  less  elaborate  and 
minute  than  has  been  displayed  in  our  treatment  of  it 
here. 

And  in  conclusion  it  may  be  truly  said,  that  the  student 
in  elocution  is  lured  by  the  brightest  and  holiest  incentives 
to  tread  with  an'elastic  and  unfaultering  step  the  path  which 
leads  to  the  steep  but  radiant  summit  of  oratorical  renown. 
He  is  stimulated  by  the  growing  demands  of  his  country  for 
speaking  talent  in  every  department  of  her  service.  He  is 
stimulated  to  advancement  by  the  fresh  fields  for  the  exer- 
tion and  display  of  oratorical  accomplishments,  which  are 
openifig  in  rapid  succession  in  every  part  of  the  world. 
He  is  prompted  to  a  perfect  development  of  his  powers 
by  a  prospect  of  the  incalculable  benefits  which  may  possibly 
flow  from  the  future  employment  of  his  faculties  in  advo- 
cating the  interests  of  religion,  of  peace,  of  science,  liter- 
ature, and  all  the  varied  and  endearing  objects  which  are 
inscribed  on  the  extended  catalogue  of  human  interests.  He 
is  encouraged  to  persevere  in  the  race  of  improvement,  by 
the  precious  rewards  which  will  gather  on  his  path  from 
the  commencement  of  his  career  until  he  shall  attain  the 
goal  of  glory.  He  is  encouraged  to  press  forward  in  his  ap- 
proaches to  the  heights  of  celebrity,  by  the  example  of  those 
names  which  shine  as  conspicuously  as  the  brightness  of  a 
star  on  the  long  and  shadowy  expanse  of  past  ages,  and  who 
trampled  in  the  dust  of  the  earth,  with  a  proud  and  triumph- 
ant spirit  the  most  startling  difficulties  which  accosted 
them  in  their  march.  And  he  is  invited  to  persevering 
exertion  by  the  cheering  light  of  those  noble  and  ethereal 
spirits,  who,  on  the  American  continent,  have  encountered 
the  force  of  every  billow,  the  anger  of  every  surge,  and  the 
fury  of  every  tempest,  in  passing  over  the  sea  of  difficulty  to 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

reach  the  bright  landscape  of  promise  which  they  finally 
enjoyed  as  orators  and  statesmen,  and  whose  memory  now 
stands  revealed  to  the  contemplation  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, like  the  roses  in  the  sky,  after  the  parting  beams  of  the 
sun  have  disappeared. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   THE   VOICE    ONE   OF   THE  PRINCIPAL    ELEMENTS   Ilf 
SUCCESSFUL   SPEAKING. 

If  a  person  is  endowed  by  nature  with  a  voice  of  full  com- 
pass and  melody,  the  usual  exercises  in  declamation  which 
pertain  to  the  system  of  collegiate  and  academic  discipline 
prevalent  in  this  country,  will  exert  a  highly-improving 
influence  on  the  speaker.  But  the  great  mass  of  human 
beings  require  an  attention  to  the  voice  vastly  greater  than 
that  which  is  afforded  by  the  field  of  collegiate  culture.  The 
voice  of  but  few  persons,  unaided  by  continued  attention,  will 
ever  arrest  the  attention  of  the  listener  on  account  of  the 
special  beauty  and  melody  of  its  tones.  Many  voices  are 
what  we  would  classify  as  indifferent,  having  no  peculiarity 
either  of  excellence  or  deficiency.  The  voice,  too,  in  some  in- 
stances, is  decidedly  disagreeable,  either  on  account  of  the 
monotony  of  its  tones,  the  screeching  character  of  its  enunci- 
ation, its  hoarseness,  or  its  utter  incapacity  for  cadence  or 
modulation  of  sounds. 

In  every  instance  where  the  voice  of  the  speaker  is  either 
indifferent  or  disagreeable,  it  does  not  execute  the  functions 
for  which  it  was  designed  by  nature ;  and  it  requires  in  such 
cases  a  degree  of  culture  as  sedulous  to  develop  its  inherent 
capabilities  as  the  human  mind  itself.  On  this  subject,  per- 
haps, there  is  a  more  pervasive  degree  of  ignorance  prevailing, 
than  on  any  other  which  is  so  intimately  associated  with  the 
best  interests  of  the  human  race.  Those  to  whose  professions 
and  duties  public  speaking  may  pertain  in  life,  are  inclined  to 


24  MANAGEMENT  OF  THE   VOICE. 

believe  that  nature  itself  has  done  all  for  the  voice  which  is 
necessary  to  its  uses,  and  that  it  will  serve  as  an  intelligible 
medium  through  which  their  ideas  may  be  conveyed  to  the 
world,  and  that  nothing  more  can  be  done,  or  is  required  to 
be  done.  And  it  is  by  the  happening  of  a  combination  of 
circumstances  apparently  fortuitous  in  their  character,  or  by 
the  providential  interposition  of  some  friend  who  possesses  an 
enlightened  experience  on  the  subject  of  the  human  voice,  that 
a  person  is  usually  awakened  to  a  just  perception  of  the  vast, 
we  may  affirm  indefinite,  susceptibilities  of  the  human  voice 
to  improvement  from  continued  culture. 

Every  person  who   has   enjoyed   an   ordinary  share  of 
experience  in  the  practice  of  speaking,  will  apprehend  the 
justness  of  the  preceding  remarks,  in  the  comparative  in- 
fluence and  effect  exerted  by  his  own  efforts  at  different 
times.      He  will  at  times  anticipate  a  rich  and   brilliant 
harvest  of  admiration  and  plaudits  from  the  immensity  of 
his  preparations  and  the  plenitude  of  the  resources  which 
he  knows  he  will  be  enabled  to  bring  to  bear  on  the  subject 
before  him.     His  mortification  will  be  frequently  propor- 
tioned in  its  intensity  to  the  vividness  of  his  previous  expec- 
tations, at  the  perfection  of  his  disappointment.     What  was  ^ 
intended  and  expected  to  be  the  music  of  eloquence,  falls  in 
lifeless  and  futile  accents  from  the  lips  of  the  speaker.     Not 
a  syllable  of  commendation  is  uttered — the  audience  has  not 
been  wooed  into  a  breathless  silence  by  the  speaker ;  and 
perhaps  the  current  of  expectation,  which  flowed  with  so 
much  fervor  a  few  minutes  before,  is  frozen   in  its  channel, 
by  commentaries  on  the  length  of  the  speech,  on  the  intro- 
duction of  topics  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  question 
discussed,  or  the  culpable  omission  of  others  which  were 
vitally  essential  to  its  fair  exposition.     The  same  person  has 
been  perhaps  regaled  with  miracles  of  achievement  and  rap- 
tures of  applause  where  he  cherished  but  little  interest  in  the 
disposition  of  the  subject  debated,  and  where  his  preparation 


FACULTY  OF  INTONATION".  25 

had  been  culpably  superficial.  The  solution  of  this  apparent 
capriciousness  in  the  admiration  and  taste  of  the  public,  may 
be  infallibly  traced  to  the  varying  powers  of  execution  in  the 
speaker  himself.  Where  his  mental  preparation  was  com- 
mensurate with  the  occasion,  his  vocal  functions  did  not  act 
in  unison  with  the  powers  of  thought.  When  his  treasury 
of  thought  had  been  lightly  taxed,  his  machinery  of  utterance 
had  invested  poverty  of  language  and  feebleness  of  argument 
with  the  deceptive  glare  of  artificial  beauty.  The  same  pecu- 
liarity is  recognized  in  the  varied  effects  attendant  on  efforts 
in  the  department  of  music.  The  skilful  votary  of  science 
turns  over  leaf  after  leaf  in  the  volume  of  his  printed  melo- 
dies, and  plays  off  his  piece  with  the  glibness  of  well-oiled 
machinery,  without  having  omitted  the  minutest  dot,  cross, 
or  bar  which  enters  into  the  composition  of  the  piece.  The 
universal  exclamation  is,  alas!  how  insipid.  Another  per- 
former takes  up  the  same  piece  of  music  who  is  vastly 
inferior  in  point  of  science  to  the  first,  but  who  is  competent 
to  draw  forth  the  latent  treasures  of  sound  from  the  instru- 
ment, and  he  discourses  his  audience  into  ecstacies. 


CHAPTER   II. 

A   HAPPY   FACULTY   OF   INTONATION — ITS   ADVANTAGES. 

As  the  effect  and  power  of  a  speaker  depends,  in  a  very 
great  degree,  upon  the  intonations  of  the  voice  in  the  deliv- 
ery of  a  speech,  address,  or  argument  of  any  description,  it 
is  an  achievement  of  incalculable  importance,  in  the  field  ot 
elocution,  to  acquire  some  specific  tone  of  enunciation,  which 
shall  be  peculiar  to  the  person  himself — that  is,  he  should 
adopt  it  as  an  inflexible  rule  of  action,  to  acquire  some  fixed 
mode  of  music  in  the  matter  of  enunciation,  into  which  he 


26  FACULTY  OF  INTONATION. 

may  easily  and  inevitably  glide  on  every  occasion,  when  he 
participates  in  speaking,  just  as  a  graceful  dancer  falls  natu- 
rally into  his  own  peculiar  mode  of  dancing,  whenever  he 
passes  through  the  evolutions  of  a  dance,  or  as  a  charming 
vocalist,  whenever  he  raises  his  voice  in  song,  slides  as  easily 
into  his  own  particular  style  of  singing,  as  the  hand  falls  to 
the  side  of  the  human  frame,  when  it  has  been  elevated  for 
any  particular  object  or  purpose. 

It  may  appear  to  an  unpracticed  ear  in  such  matters,  to  be 
an  unique  expression,  to  apply  the  term  music  to  the  subject 
of  elocution  or  oratory.  But  an  axiom  of  any  kind  does  not 
suggest  the  idea  of  greater  intrinsic  certainty,  than  the  propo- 
sition that  every  successful  or  engaging  speaker  has  a  style 
or  intonation  in  speaking,  which  may  be  denominated  his 
own  peculiar  music.  For  unless  he  grafts  this  special  prop- 
erty upon  his  oratory,  it  will  present  no  definite  quality  or 
characteristic,  and  whenever  he  commences  the  performance 
of  speaking,  he  will  have  a  tendency  to  fall  into  the  ever- 
shifting  varieties  of  indifferent  and  imperfect  enimciation. 

A  large  proportion  of  those  who  speak  from  the  pulpit,  from 
the  hustings,  amid  the  pursuits  of  the  bar,  and  in  the  delib- 
erative assemblies  of  the  country,  may  be  truly  said  to  pos- 
sess no  generic  style  of  music  or  of  intonation  in  speaking. 
They  invest  their  hearers  with  the  possession  of  their  intel- 
lectual wares,  just  as  a  Saturday-night  fiddler  at  a  rustic 
dance  puts  his  patrons  in  possession  of  his  resources  of  mu- 
sic, by  a  profuse  expenditure  of  physical  exertion.  The 
legitimate  fruit  of  this  want  of  style  and  tunc  in  speaking,  is 
that  the  speech  made  by  a  speaker  on  any  particular  occa- 
sion, is  only  recollected  by  the  hearers  as  such,  some  pure 
particles  of  intellectual  gold,  which  arc  drawn  forth  from 
the  mind  of  the  speaker  by  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion 
arc  treasured  up  in  the  memory  of  the  audience  as  incidents 
distinct  from  the  speech ;  but  the  effort  itself,  as  an  integral 
thing,  leaves  no  fragrant  or  pleasing  reminiscences  in  its  train. 


FACULTY  OF  INTONATION.  27 

Whilst  sitting  in  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, some  years  since,  our  attention  was  engaged,  amidst  a 
wilderness  of  uninteresting  debaters,  by  one  whose  delivery 
was  peculiarly  fine  in  its  mould,  and  on  fixing  our  ob- 
servation steadily  upon  the  speaker,  we  noticed  that  the 
same  agreeable  sensation  which  was  imparted  to  our  own 
breast  by  the  speaker,  had  also  been  communicated  to 
others,  for  the  members  of  Congress  were  collecting  in  a 
dense  group  around  him.  This  attraction  exerted  by  the 
speaker,  was  purely  the  result  of  intonation,  and  it  earned 
for  him  the  highest  honors  of  the  house,  unaided  by  any 
peculiar  powers  of  ratiocination.  For  though  imbued  with 
the  elegancies  of  classic  lore,  he  was  fortified  by  no  giant 
energies  of  mind. 

We  once  saw  that  great  master  of  the  music  of  the 
human  voice,  Henry  Clay,  followed  in  an  address  by  one 
of  the  most  celebrated  speakers  in  the  southwest,  and  not- 
withstanding the  speech  of  the  last-mentioned  speaker  was 
embellished  with  the  varied  gems  which  sparkle  in  the 
treasury  of  science,  history  and  poetry,  his  enunciation  fell 
upon  the  ear  like  the  croaking  of  the  raven  after  the  dul- 
cet strains  which  preceded  it.  The  two  addresses  appeared 
side  by  side  in  one  of  the  city  journals  a  day  or  two  after- 
wards, and  though  the  speech  of  Mr.  Clay  was  not  deficient 
in  beauty  of  phrase,  yet  we  thought  its  literary  features  pre- 
sented a  quiet  aspect  in  juxtaposition  to  the  gorgeous  deco- 
rations which  marked  the  production  of  his  associate. 

And  it  may  be  here  affirmed,  that  the  peculiar  charm  of 
Mr.  Clay's  intonations  of  voice,  was  neither  a  casual  nor  a 
natural  accomplishment,  it  was  perfected  and  secured  by  the 
enduring  application  of  all  the  aids  derived  from  retired  and 
public  practice  in  the  art  of  declamation,  and  from  a  studi- 
ous and  vigilant  observation  of  the  best  living  models  in  the 
accomplishment  of  speaking.  This  representation  is  not 
based  simply  upon  some  popular  tradition,  which  is  incapa- 


28  EFFECTIVE  STYLE  OF  DELIVERY. 

ble  of  being  traced  to  any  definite  source,  but  is  fortified  by 
the  declarations  of  the  possessor  of  these  rare  graces  himself, 
on  some  literary  occasion,  though  the  occasion  itself  is  not 
distinctly  remembered.  Yet  when  admired  in  the  perfec- 
tion and  maturity  of  his  unrivalled  perfections  as  a  speaker, 
he  was  regarded  as  a  partial  recipient  of  the  beneficent  en- 
dowments of  nature.  His  elevated  reach  of  intellect,  it  is 
certain  that  nature  gave,  but  the  aggrandizing  medium 
through  which  his  intellect  was  surveyed,  was  the  fruit  of 
persevering  personal  labor. 


CHAPTER    III. 

AN    EFFECTIVE    STYLE    OF     DELIVERY   A   SPECIFIC    QUALITY    LIKE     THAT    OF 

TUNE. THE    PUPIL    IN    ELOCUTION    SHOULD    CAREFULLY    FIX    IN    HIS    MIND 

SOME    MODEL    OF   EXCELLENCE    IN   THAT    DEPARTMENT. 

There  is  rarely  a  person  who  has  bestowed  any  atten- 
tion on  the  mode  and  manner  of  speaking  in  others,  but  who 
has  found  his  admiration  on  some  particular  occasions,  fired 
with  raptures  by  the  inimitable  beauties  exhibited  by  some 
speaker  in  the  matter  of  delivery.  Many  speakers  also, 
who  are  not  distinguished  for  a  habitual  or  uniform  excel- 
lence in  the  performance  of  delivering  a  speech,  will  at  times, 
under  the  influence  of  some  casual  combination  of  circum- 
stances, display  a  music  and  power  of  intonation  in  speak- 
ing, which  will  excite  both  the  astonishment  of  the  speaker 
himself,  and  that  of  his  acquaintances. 

Now,  whether  the  beauty  of  intonation  in  the  matter  of 
delivering  a  speech,  to  which  we  have  just  referred,  has 
been  recognized  in  another  speaker,  or  whether  a  person, 
contrary  to  his  current  experience,  has  been  favored  in  find- 
ing this  beauty  of  intonation  unexpectedly  connected  with 


EFFECTIVE  STYLE  OF  DELIYERY.  29 

his  own  speaking  on  some  isolated  occasion,  it  is  a  definite, 
fixed,  and  subsisting  quality  or  property,  like  that  of  music 
or  language,  which  may  be  acquired — which  may  be  ma- 
tured into  a  fixed  habit — which  is  transferable,  if  the  beau- 
ty of  delivery  has  been  noticed  and  admired  in  another — 
and  which  may  be  identified,  seized,  and  rendered  available 
to  a  speaker  himselfj  if  it  has  unexpectedly  communicated  a 
charm  to  his  own  speaking,  on  some  particular  occasion. 

The  person  who  has  been  smitten  by  peculiar  beauties  of 
intonation  on  any  occasion,  whether  that  beauty  character- 
ized his  own  effort,  or  that  of  another  speaker,  will  frequently 
find  it  difficult  afterwards  to  identify  and  to  reduce  to  a  spe- 
cific personification,  the  precise  qualities  or  beauties  of  sound 
in  the  particular  speech  or  speaker  which  forcibly  engaged 
his  admiration.  The  effort  to  personify  and  bring  a  matter 
of  this  kind  practically  and  visibly  to  the  memory,  so  that 
the  person  desiring  it,  may  give  a  taste  or  sample  of  the 
peculiar  intonation  to  another,  is  similar  to  the  effort  to  per- 
sonify and  bring  up  to  the  memory  some  favorite  tune  or 
air,  which  a  performer  would  play  off  immediately,  if  it 
were  only  made  known  to  him  by  the  process  of  whistling 
or  singing. 

But  however  difficult  it  may  be  to  revive  the  recollection 
of  special  beauties  of  intonation  or  delivery,  so  that  the  pu- 
pil may  imitate  or  repeat  the  precise  intonation  when  he 
wishes  it,  yet  it  may  be  accomplished,  and  that  unfailingly, 
where  the  requisite  attention  is  yielded  to  the  subject.  The 
best  mode  of  commanding  the  specific  mode  of  intonation 
when  required,  is  to  revolve  the  matter  over  and  over  in  the 
mind,  just  as  one  exerts  his  memory  to  recollect  a  name,  or 
some  particular  tune ;  and  the  personification  of  the  specific 
beauty  of  intonation  demanded,  will  (after  persevering  ef- 
forts to  catch  it)  arise  to  the  memory  vividly.  The  object 
then  should  be  to  paint  the  impression  .of  the  particular  in- 
tonation which  the  speaker  admires,  enduringly  on  the  tab- 


80  EFFECTIVE  STYLE   OF  DELIVEKY. 

lets  of  his  memory,  by  keeping  the  invisible  entity  contin- 
ually before  his  memory  by  reflection,  by  declaiming  it  ex- 
tempore, and  by  connecting  the  precise  intonation  with  the 
reading  of  some  particular  speech. 

The  student  in  elocution  may  apprehend  in  some  degree, 
the  certainty  with  which  an  excellent  mode  of  speaking  may 
be  grafted  upon  his  voice,  by  referring  to  the  instances  in 
which  he  has  seen  persons  of  a  curious  or  grotesque  enunci- 
ation in  ordinary  conversation,  successfully  imitated  by  ob- 
servers of  a  mirthful  and  comic  turn  of  mind.  Imitations 
of  this  description  are  frequently  accomplished  with  such  a 
punctilious  degree  of  accuracy,  that  persons  in  an  adjoining 
room  to  that  in  which  the  mimic  is  stationed,  will  suppose 
with  surprise,  that  acquaintances  are  present,  who  may  be 
then  at  some  distant  locality.  On  other  occasions,  an  assem- 
bly will  be  sustained  in  shouts  of  merriment  for  a  consider- 
able space  of  time,  by  well  conducted  imitations  of  persons 
who  are  characterized  by  vocal  peculiarities.  Another  illus- 
tration of  the  perfect  competency  of  the  student  to  acquire 
the  excellencies  of  intonation,  is  the  facility  with  which  he 
sometimes  involuntarily  imbibes  the  defective  traits  in  the 
enunciation  of  a  preacher,  or  a  public  speaker  of  any  profess- 
ion whatever,  whom  he  often  hears.  He  will  sometimes 
detect  a  nasal  or  a  drawling  tone  in  his  colloquial  exercises, 
or  some  defective  pronunciation  of  a  word,  which,  on  reflec- 
tion, he  will  be  enabled  immediately  to  trace  to  some  speak- 
er that  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  listening  to. 

It  is  true  that  valuable  and  agreeable  peculiarities  in  speech, 
like  those  in  music,  are  more  difficult  of  acquisition  than  im- 
perfections and  defects.  But  still  the  certainty  with  which 
defects  may  be  imitated  by  exertion,  demonstrates  infallibly 
the  certainty  of  acquiring  excellencies  by  the  application  of 
persevering  exertion. 


HOW  TO  ACQUIRE  AN  EFFECTIVE  DELIVERY.      31 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BY    WHAT    MEANS    AN    EFFECTIVE    STYLE    OF    DELIVERY    MAY    BE    ACQUIRED. 

The  first  duty  of  a  pupil  in  elocution,  who  may  be  desir- 
ous of  acquiring  a  faculty  of  perfect  intonation,  is  to  cast 
about  his  recollection  amongst  the  public  speakers  of  the 
country,  and  to  select  amongst  them  that  which  has  proved 
itself  the  best  and  most  engaging  intonation.  Or  if  there  be 
any  peculiar  tone  or  music  of  enunciation  which  has  occurred 
to  his  own  taste,  as  possessing  high  beauties  and  advantages, 
let  him  select  that  as  his  model  of  style,  in  what  may  be 
termed  the  music  of  speaking,  and  make  it  his  own. 

To  reduce  a  particular  style  of  intonation  into  possession, 
and  to  command  the  use  of  it  when  he  chooses,  there  is  one 
method  of  discipline  which  will  as  certainly  achieve  this  ob- 
ject for  a  pupil  as  it  is  for  the  sparks  to  ascend  upwards, 
when  an  explosion  of  any  sort  occurs.  Let  him  select  some 
speech  or  address  remarkable  for  the  brevity  of  its  sentences 
and  for  the  smoothness  of  its  style,  and  let  him  adopt  it  as 
his  daily  habit  to  read  the  particular  speech  or  address  until 
he  can  read  or  declaim  it  just  as  he  chooses  to  speak  it. 
He  should  peruse,  reperuse  the  particular  speech  or  address, 
until  he  can  give  his  voice  any  degree  of  elevation  or  depress- 
ion he  pleases  in  speaking  the  different  sentences  in  it,  so 
that  he  may  accentuate  each  word  in  a  sentence  distinctly, 
and  assign  to  each  word  in  the  sentence  its  proper  emphasis. 
He  should  then  read  over  the  particular  speech  or  address,  until 
the  whole  production  becomes  set  or  tuned  to  the  music  of  his 
voice.  Afler  this  important  preliminary  has  been  achieved,  he 
should  then,  when  he  takes  up  this  speech  or  address,  early 
in  the  morning,  or  at  midday,  or  at  whatever  time  he  selects 
for  commencing  the  speaking  of  it,  fix  in  his  mind  the  style 


32      HOW  TO  ACQUIRE   AN"   EFFECTIVE  DELIVERY. 

of  enunciation  or  intonation  which  he  has  chosen  as  his  habit- 
'jal  music  of  speech,  just  as  a  leader  in  the  music  of  a  band 
or  choir  brings  up  to  his  mmd  the  particular  or  favorite 
tune  in  sacred  music,  which  he  intends  to  raise  for  the  con 
gregation  to  follow  in  or  unite  with  him  in  singing.  He 
should  run  over  the  first  sentence  of  the  speech  mentally,  and 
blend  the  particular  mode  of  intonation  or  style  of  music, 
with  the  sentence,  before  he  utters  a  word  audibly.  He 
should  then  gently  repeat  the  first  sentence  or  two  so  as  to  pei 
ceive  whether  or  not  he  can  communicate  to  them  the  par 
ticular  intonation,  sound  or  style  in  speaking,  which  he  de- 
sires. When  he  discovers  that  he  has  succeeded  in  this 
point  by  repeating  the  first  sentence  or  two,  let  him  add  a 
third  and  other  additional  sentences  in  the  speech,  taking 
great  care  to  preserve  the  style  of  intonation  he  began  with, 
through  the  whole  speech,  or  such  portion  of  it  as  he  may 
choose  to  read,  declaim,  or  speak  at  the  ti:r.v^.  If  a  pupil  will 
adopt  this  mode  of  acquiring  a  desirable  intonation  or  style 
of  music  in  speaking,  and  practice  it  several  times  in  each 
day,  or  even  once  every  day,  he  may,  without  doubt,  com- 
mand any  mode  of  intonation  or  style  of  enunciation  in  speak- 
ing he  chooses. 

The  simplicity  and  practicability  of  this  formula  of  prac- 
tice, may  be  explained  by  reference  to  performances  in  vocal 
music.  Every  person  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  the  prac- 
tice of  singing,  knows  that  a  vocalist  will  be  able  to  blend  a 
tune  with  much  greater  facility  with  a  hymn  which  he  has 
sung  oflen  in  connection  with  that  particular  musical  com- 
position, than  he  can  any  other  tune.  The  intonations  of  the 
voice,  by  being  frequently  combined  in  a  particular  arrange 
mcnt  or  organization  of  sound  with  the  particular  hymn,  song, 
or  composition,  by  habit  is  so  disciplined  or  broke  as  to  cor- 
respond, after  the  necessary  amount  of  practice,  with  the 
language,  measure,  pauses,  breaks  and  time  contained  in  the 
selected  piece  of  music. 


DEEP  AND  MUSICAL  TONES.  38 

Thus  it  is  in  regard  to  any  particular  speech  or  address 
which  a  speaker  daily  reads  or  declaims,  his  voice  by  habit 
gradually  becomes  attuned  to  the  words  and  to  the  particu- 
lar measure  of  the  sentences  in  it,  so  as  to  attain  a  great  de- 
gree of  flexibility  and  ease  in  repeating  it  over.  So  much  is 
this  the  case,  that  the  pupil  or  speaker  will,  after  a  term  of 
practice,  be  enabled  to  speak  it  with  any  intonation  or  style 
he  chooses. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DEEP  AND   MUSICAL   TONES   OF   VOICE — THE   MODE   BY   WHICH   THEY   AEE 
PEODUCED. 

In  presenting  the  view  which  is  designed  to  be  unfolded  in 
this  chapter,  it  may  be  premised  that  the  startling  imjiedi- 
ment  to  a  production  of  deep  and  musical  tones  which 
meets  almost  every  beginner  in  speaking  at  the  early  stages 
of  his  career,  is  what  appears  at  one  time  to  be  too  level  a 
surface  about  the  root  of  the  tongue,  and  on  other  occasions 
a  surface  of  too  much  convexity,  to  admit  of  the  production 
of  deep,  full,  and  melodious  tones  in  speaking.  And  this  is 
a  sensation  in  speaking  which  will  be  experienced  in  some 
degree  through  life,  unless  it  shall  be  corrected  and  removed 
by  the  creation  of  what  will  appear  to  the  speaker  himself 
to  be  a  hollow  or  concave  surface  about  the  root  of  the 
tongue,  by  a  persevering  exercise  of  the  voice  on  the  highest 
key  in  declamation  or  in  music,  or  in  both,  if  he  chooses  to 
adopt  them. 

When  the  pupil,  in  the  morning  of  life,  is  discouraged  in 
all  his  first  attempts  to  speak,  by  that  perpetual  obstacle  to 
the  creation  of  musical  sounds  which  exists  in  what  appears 
to  be  too  level,  too  convex,  or  too  unyielding  a  surface  about 

2* 


84  DEEP  AND  MUSICAL  TONES. 

the  root  of  the  tongue  to  admit  of  the  formation  of  agreeable 
and  melodious  sounds,  the  young  aspirant  pants  for  a  hollow 
space  or  concave  surface  at  the  root  of  the  tongue,  almost 
with  the  same  intensity  of  desire  with  which  a  subject  of  the 
nightmare  covets  a  channel  for  free  respiration.  The  pupil 
wants  more  room  or  depth  of  space  about  the  root  of  the 
tongue,  in  which  to  create  and  forge  melodious,  full,  and 
musical  sounds. 

The  room,  hollow  space,  or  concave  surface  about  the  root 
of  the  tongue,  which  may  be  regarded  by  the  pupil  or  begin- 
ner in  speaking  as  essential  to  the  creation  of  deep,  musical, 
and  full  tones  of  voice,  is  produced  by  that  tension  or  stretch- 
ing of  the  muscles  about  the  throat  which  is  imposed  upon 
that  portion  of  the  machinery  of  speech  by  exerting  the  voice 
habitually  with  its  utmost  strength  on  the  highest  key  in 
declamation  and  in  music. 

Immediately  after  the  voice  shall  have  been  exerted  on  a 
very  high  key,  either  in  music  or  in  declamation,  the  pupil 
will  feel  as  if  the  whole  pressure  of  the  exercise  had  been 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  root  of  the  tongue,  or  on  that  por- 
tion of  the  organs  of  sound  near  the  root  of  that  member. 
The  portion  of  the  throat  about  the  root  of  the  tongue,  after 
the  pressure  exerted  by  the  act  of  singing  or  declamation 
shall  have  been  removed,  appears  as  if  it  had  yielded  consid- 
erably to  the  exercise,  and  that  it  had  sunk  lower  down  under 
the  stress  which  had  been  imposed  upon  it.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments, too,  after  the  pressure  exerted  upon  the  organs  of 
speech  shall  have  been  removed  from  what  appears  to  the 
performer  to  be  the  root  of  the  tongue,  he  will  find  the 
voice  to  be  in  much  better  tune  or  condition  to  utter 
deep  sounds  and  to  accentuate  and  emphasize  correctly.  The 
pupil  will  also  find,  when  the  voice  shall  have  enjoyed  a  brief 
interval  of  rest,  after  the  pressure  first  spoken  of  has  been 
removed  from  what  his  physical  senses  indicate  to  be  the 
root  of  the  tongue,  that  it  will  be  more  full,  clear,  and  deep 


DEEP   AND   MUSICAL   TONES.  35 

than  usual,  and  that  he  can  both  read  and  speak  with  more 
than  his  habitual  clearness  of  note.  The  root  of  the  tongue 
will  seem  either  to  have  receded  or  sunk  lower  down  in 
the  throat,  under  the  influence  of  the  exercises  which  have 
been  referred  to  in  the  early  part  of  this  chapter. 

But  whether  it  be  the  root  of  the  tongue  that  is  acted  upon 
in  the  exercise  of  declaiming  or  singing  on  a  high  key,  which 
produces  that  expansion  or  deepening  of  the  organs  of  speech 
that  renders  them  more  competent  to  produce  with  ease 
deep,  full,  and  swelling  sounds,  and  which  invests  them  in  a 
more  perfect  degree  with  the  faculties  of  modulation,  articu- 
lation, and  accentuation ;  one  thing  is  certain,  that  the  person 
performing  in  music  or  declamation  on  a  key  of  great  eleva- 
tion, will  feel,  when  the  exercise  has  ceased,  that  greater  room 
than  before  has  been  aflbrded  about  the  root  of  the  tongue 
for  the  exercise  of  speaking ;  and  it  is  also  certain,  that  it  is 
the  very  expansion  which  is  thus  felt  about  the  root  of  the 
tongue  immediately  after  severe  exercises  in  singing  or 
declamation,  which  gives  depth  and  compass  to  the  voice, 
when  the  expansion  shall  have  become  habitual,  by  repeated 
and  persevering  exercise.  And  wherever  the  voice  may  be 
formed,  whether  it  be  in  the  glottis,  or  still  lower  in  the 
throat,  if  the  pupil  himself  should  feel  that  the  voice  is  bene- 
ficially affected  by  a  pressure  which  shall  be  apparently 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  root  of  the  tongue,  although  it  may 
in  fact  be  brought  to  bear  elsewhere,  and  yet  lower  down  in 
the  throat,  it  is  enough  if  the  student  feels  that  the  benefit  is 
produced  by  pressure  exerted  upon  the  root  of  the  member 
in  question ;  for  he  will  know  that  he  is  laboring  for  the 
improvement  of  his  voice  with  some  returns  of  benefit  to 
himself,  although  he  may  not  be  able  to  designate  with  tech- 
nical accuracy  what  particular  portions  of  the  organs  of 
speech  are  particularly  affected  by  his  disciplinary  exercises. 
If  a  patient  who  is  afflicted  with  a  chronic  disease  of  the  liver, 
shall  find  that  a  pain  in  his  left  side  is  greatly  alleviated  by 


36  DEEP  AND  MUSICAL  TONES. 

the  daily  application  of  a  brush  to  that  side,  a  physician 
would  be  regarded  as  very  unfaithful  to  his  trust,  if  he  should 
prohibit  to  the  diseased  person  the  use  of  his  brush,  because 
he  might  not  be  able  to  specify,  with  professional  and  tech- 
nical accuracy,  that  part  of  the  vitals  which  had  been  bene- 
ficially influenced  by  the  application  of  the  brush. 

Every  system  of  instruction  touching  the  formation  of  the 
human  voice,  concedes  the  point  that  all  deep  soimds  of  the 
voice  are  formed  far  down  in  the  throat,  and  that  they  are  ac- 
companied by  a  much  greater  tension  of  the  muscles  about 
the  throat  than  common  or  conversational  tones  which  ap- 
pear to  come  from  the  lips.  And  the  pupil  or  performer 
certainly  feels  immediately  after  having  exercised  his  voice 
on  a  high  key,  that  the  organs  about  the  root  of  the  tongue 
have  given  way,  to  some  extent,  under  the  pressure  exerted 
upon  them,  and  that  the  voice  immediately  afterwards  is 
formed  much  lower  down  the  throat  than  it  previously  was. 

An  accomplished  writer  on  the  subject  of  elocution  in 
referring  to  the  exertion  of  the  organs  of  speech  in  producing 
deep  tones  or  sounds  of  the  voice,  expresses  the  following 
views : — "  This  peculiar  voice  (referring  to  the  deeper  tones) 
when  it  is  adapted  to  the  expression  of  what  is  solemn,  grand, 
and  exciting,  is  formed  in  those  parts  of  the  mouth  posterior 
to  the  palate,  bounded  below  by  the  root  of  the  tongue,  above 
by  the  commencement  of  the  palate,  behind  by  the  most  pos- 
terior part  of  the  throat,  and  on  the  sides  by  the  angles  of 
the  jaw.  The  tongue,  in  the  meantime,  is  hollowed  and 
drawn  back ;  and  the  mouth  is  opened  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  favor  as  much  as  possible  the  enlargement  of  the  cavity 
described."  The  same  lecturer  observes  in  the  same  con- 
nection, "  that  the  deeper  formation  of  the  voice  is  the  secret 
of  that  peculiar  tone  which  is  found  in  orators  and  actors 
of  celebrity." 


DEEP  AND   MUSICAL  TONES.  37 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   DEEP   AND     MUSICAL    TONES— BOTH     ACQUIRED    AND     PERPETUATED   BY 
THE   PERSEVERING   CULTURE   OF   THE   VOICE. 

In  the  view  of  the  human  voice  which  was  presented  in  the 
chapter  immediately  preceding  this,  (the  proposition  was  in- 
cluded,) that  the  deeper  tones  of  the  voice  are  formed  at  a 
point  of  some  depth  in  the  throat.  It  sometimes  happens 
that  the  faculty  of  sounding  such  tones  is  a  natural  endow- 
ment. But  this  is  an  event  of  rare  occurrence.  The  original 
inclination  of  the  human  voice  is,  almost  universally,  to  the 
production  of  superficial  tones — those  which  appear  to  pro- 
ceed from  the  lips,  and  in  the  formation  of  which  the  throat 
of  the  speaker  appears  to  have  no  agency  whatever. 

It  is  by  the  adoption  and  daily  application  of  disciplinary 
exercises  to  the  organs  of  speech,  that  the  capacity  for  utter- 
tering  the  deep  and  musical  notes  is  acquired,  and  it  is  by  a 
tenacious  adherence  to  these  exercises  that  they  are  preserved 
in  perfection. 

Much  the  greatest  number  of  those  who  have  charmed  the 
world  on  the  dramatic  boards,  and  on  the  yet  more  sacred 
theatres  for  the  employment  of  the  faculty  of  speech,  were 
originally  endowed  with  a  very  slender  share  of  vocal  attrac- 
tions. It  was  by  a  martyr-like  submission  to  the  most 
taxing,  laborious,  and  continued  disciplinary  measures,  that 
they  grafted  upon  their  voices  the  eloquence  of  sound.  And 
these  remarks  apply  as  truly  to  those  who  have  delighted 
eager  assemblies  by  their  accomplishments  in  music,  as  to 
those  who  have  borne  away  captive  multitudes  by  the  seduc- 
tive influence  of  eloquence  in  speech.  They  have  almost 
universally  commenced  life  with  the    conviction  vividly 


38  DEEP  AND   MUSICAL  TONES. 

painted  on  their  minds,  that  they  had  to  draw  on  the  treas- 
ury of  art  for  the  great  faculty  of  interesting  and  pleasing 
the  world. 

And,  after  all  which  has  been  said  or  written  on  the  subject 
of  the  secret  power  of  charming  an  audience  which  may  be 
possessed  by  accomplished  tragedians,  the  whole  of  this  ex- 
uberant spring  of  attraction  may  be  clearly  recognized  in 
the  superior  depth  of  their  voices.  It  is  in  this  quality, 
simlar  to  a  wand  of  magic,  that  the  creative  principle  of 
power  may  be  found,  which  draws  tears  from  the  eyes  of 
the  heartless,  shouts  from  the  lips  of  the  dumb,  action  from 
the  limbs  of  the  halt,  and  laughter  from  the  stoical  amongst 
the  multitude. 

It  may  not  be  denied  that  when  depth  of  tone  may  be 
once  acquired  for  the  human  voice  by  the  application  of  the 
exercises  which  have  been  prescribed  by  the  intelligent  ex- 
perience of  the  world,  that  other  excellencies  may  be  added 
to  this  prolific  source  of  power.  Its  softness  may  be  increas- 
ed, its  capacity  for  receiving  the  necessary  inflexions  is  ex- 
tended, its  power  of  modulation  will  be  improved,  and  its 
competency  for  the  important  duties  of  accentuation  and  em- 
phasizing will  be  greatly  heightened. 

But  all  these  faculties  are  the  precious  progeny  of  that 
prolific  parent,  depth  of  sound  in  the  voice.  They  depend  on 
that  precious  property  in  the  voice,  as  truly  as  the  leaves  and 
the  fruit  depend  upon  the  parent  tree.  Blend  that  quality  with 
the  voice,  and  all  other  graces  will  be  spontaneously  added, 
obliterate  that  estimable  feature,  and  they  will  decay  and 
disappear. 

The  very  term,  superficial  sound,  is  at  variance  with  the 
idea  of  music,  flexibility,  and  soflness.  That  quality,  where 
it  predominates,  is  an  insuperable  bar  to  grateful  notes  in 
instrumental  music,  and  it  is  an  impediment  equally  as  for- 
midable to  engaging  performances  in  the  sphere  of  the  voice. 

The  first  duty  of  every  person  then,  who  desires  to  convert 


DEEP   AKD   MUSICAL   TONES.  89 

the  voice  into  a  spring  of  power  and  celebrity,  is  to  displace 
its  superficial  tones,  by  grafting  upon  it  those  of  greater 
depth.  And  this  will  not  prove  the  work  of  an  hour  or  a 
day.  Like  every  creation  of  art  and  labor  which  is  highly 
appreciated  by  mankind,  or  which  wields  a  commanding 
share  of  influence  over  the  progress  of  human  affairs,  it  is 
the  fruit  of  persevering  labor. 

The  pupil  will  be  apt  to  suppose,  after  he  has  taken  his 
earliest  lessons  in  that  system  of  training  for  the  human 
voice  which  is  recommended  in  this  work,  that  the  depth  of 
tone  which  may  be  so  eagerly  sought,  will  never  assert  its 
presence.  The  voice  will  appear  deeper  and  clearer,  imme- 
diately after  it  shall  have  been  exercised  on  a  high  key,  ei- 
ther in  declamation  or  in  vocal  music.  But  that  apparent 
depth  will  give  way  in  a  short  time  to  what  may  appear  to 
be  sounds  of  the  voice,  hopelessly  and  incurably  superficial. 

But  let  not  the  pupil  despond  or  despair.  That  transient 
depth  of  tone  and  clearness  of  note  which  is  almost  certain 
to  succeed  every  exercise  of  the  voice  on  an  elevated  key, 
by  the  persevering  use  of  intelligent  training,  will  be  ulti- 
mately ripened  into  a  permanent  faculty. 

And  an  ample  stream  of  encouragement  flows  from  the 
fact,  that  the  most  prolific  sources  of  vocal  melody  which 
have  ever  charmed  the  world,  were  opened  and  supplied 
by  the  culture  of  art.  Similar  to  those  beneficent  and  prod- 
igal soils,  which  have  been  raised  by  labor  and  art  upon  the 
surface  of  rocky  and  sterile  deserts,  the  notes  which  are 
grafted  by  art  upon  harsh  and  discordant  voices,  are  those 
which  yield  the  most  bountiful  and  grateful  returns  of  music 
to  the  world. 

And  the  pupil  should  not  be  affected  by  surprise  or  pained 
by  discouragement  at  the  tardiness  of  the  process  by  which 
deep  and  musical  tones  are  acquired.  If  it  be  a  natural  ten- 
dency of  the  voice  (which  it  is  in  a  majority  of  cases)  to 
emit  superficial  and  unmusical  tones,  this,  like  other  consti- 


40  DEEP  AND   MUSICAL  TONES. 

tutional  properties  or  conformations,  requires  time  and  labor 
to  remove  it,  and  to  substitute  a  faculty  for  different  and 
more  desirable  tones.  For  all  natural  properties  of  the  hu- 
man system  are  difficult  to  deface. 

But  the  very  sensation  which  is  experienced  about  the  roof 
of  the  mouth,  about  the  root  of  the  tongue,  and  about  the 
muscles  of  the  throat,  when  a  pupil  in  elocution  is  passing 
through  the  process  of  exercising  his  voice  on  a  key  of  great 
elevation,  satisfactorily  discloses  to  his  own  judgment  that 
an  operation  is  then  in  progress,  which  will  eventually  qual- 
ify his  organs  of  speech  for  the  production  of  deep  and  full 
tones.  This  exercise  will  reveal  to  him  the  fact  that  the 
vocal  machinery  is  subjected  to  the  principle  of  tension  or 
stretching,  which  will  not  only  afford  more  room  in  the  pos- 
terior portion  of  the  mouth  and  throat,  for  the  utterance  of 
deep  and  musical  tones,  but  which  also  renders  the  muscles 
about  the  tongue  and  throat  more  nimble  and  flexible  in  the 
creation  of  sounds  of  any  description. 

The  influence  exerted  upon  the  muscles  and  membranes 
about  the  tongue  and  throat,  by  the  intense  pressure  of  sound 
upon  them  often  repeated,  seems  to  him  who  experiences  this 
pressure,  like  that  which  is  imparted  to  the  covering  of  a 
drum  by  the  stress  of  the  fingers  upon  it.  The  covering  of 
a  drum  will  yield  but  little  to  the  pressure  when  applied  the 
first  time ;  and  when  the  finger  is  removed,  the  covering  will 
resume  its  level  surface — no  trace  of  the  finger  being  visible 
upon  it.  But  when  the  finger,  or  any  other  solid  substance, 
shall  be  repeatedly  and  perse veringly  applied  to  the  covering 
of  the  drum,  it  will  become  more  and  more  yielding,  until 
at  last  it  will  become  flexible  to  a  very  slight  application  of 
the  finger.  Thus  it  is  with  the  organs  of  speech :  the  impress- 
ion made  upon  them  by  tho  earliest  exercises  in  declamation 
and  in  song,  no  matter  how  stretching  and  straining  these 
exercises  may  be,  will  seem  exceedingly  transient  in  their 
duration. 


DEEP  AND  MUSICAL  TONES.  41 

But  when  the  organs  of  speech  shall  be  subjected  to  sharp 
and  straining  exercises,  often  repeated  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  they  at  length  begin  to  yield  to  this  continu- 
ally-repeated pressure  of  the  voice  upon  them,  they  become 
divested  of  their  stiffness  and  rigidity,  and  receive  that  flexi- 
ble and  elastic  nature  which  places  them  completely  under 
the  control  of  their  possessor. 

And  is  it  at  all  strange  that  the  organic  machinery  by 
which  the  voice  is  formed  should  yield  to  the  pressure  of 
sound  continually  and  repeatedly  brought  to  bear  upon  it  ? 
Even  the  hardest  rocks  are  worn  and  hollowed  out,  after 
years  shall  have  passed  away,  by  the  continued  but  gentle 
attrition  of  water  upon  their  surface.  Is  it  a  proposition 
more  formidable  to  the  belief,  to  suggest  that  the  functions 
of  speech  may  be  rounded,  incurvated,  or  rendered  more 
hollow  by  the  continued  attrition  of  sound  upon  them  ? 

Sound  is  as  much  an  agent  as  water,  although  it  may  not 
be  as  visible,  tangible,  and  operative  to  the  senses  as  that 
element.  It  is  the  force  of  the  breath  continually  brought 
to  bear  upon  a  spongy  surface  of  mere  flesh,  blood,  and 
muscles,  which  is  a  much  more  pliant  and  manageable  sur 
face  than  that  of  stone. 

But  the  plain  and  substantive  fact,  that  at  the  commence- 
ment of  a  system  of  disciplinary  training,  the  voice  of  a  pupil 
or  beginner  is  found  to  emanate  from  the  lips  outwards,  and 
that  the  same  voice  is  found  issuing  from  a  posterior  point 
to  the  root  of  the  tongue  or  in  the  depths  of  the  throat,  at  the 
termination  of  six  months  afterwards,  is  a  fact  which  supplies 
a  much  more  nourishing  aliment  to  the  human  faith  on  this 
subject,  than  any  reasoning  which  may  be  afforded  by  specu- 
lations merely  theoretic  in  their  character. 

The  great  object  of  the  pupil,  then,  in  commencing  any 
systematic  efforts  to  train  the  organs  of  speech,  should  be 
to  deepen  the  voice ;  that  is,  he  should  so  stretch  the  muscles 
about  the  throat  or  root  of  the  tongue,  by  daily  exercise,  as 


42  DEEP  AND  MUSICAL  TONES. 

to  form  the  voice  deeper  in  the  throat  than  it  was  natural 
for  him  to  do.  This  is  the  simple  but  punctual  performance 
through  which  he  is  summoned  to  pass.  And  the  simple 
fact,  that  no  person  has  patiently  worshipped  at  the  shrine 
of  labor,  in  search  of  vocal  improvement,  without  reaping 
the  reward  of  success,  whilst  it  stifles  the  voice  of  cavil, 
is  qualified  to  waken  into  life  the  stoutest  exertions  of  the 
ambitious. 

Another  symptom  of  difficulty  in  forming  deep  and  musical 
notes  which  is  experienced  both  by  speakers  and  vocalists, 
is  what  appears  to  be  a  stricture  or  tightness  about  that 
portion  of  the  throat  which  is  adjacent  to  the  root  of  the 
tongue. 

This  tightness  in  the  integuments  or  muscles  about  that 
region  of  the  throat,  will  not  admit  of  full,  deep,  and  swelling 
sounds  of  the  voice.  It  is  this  stricture  or  tightness  which  a 
speaker  or  vocalist  has  to  remove,  by  imparting  an  habitual 
relaxation  or  flexibility  to  those  particular  muscles.  And 
after  he  shall  have  kept  the  organs  of  speech  under  a  daily 
recurring  discipline  for  some  months  in  succession,  the  pupil 
will  feel  at  the  end  of  that  term  as  if  he  was  actually  emitting 
sounds  from  a  different  organ  from  that  which  ushered  them 
forth  at  the  commencement  of  his  exertions. 

And  there  is  another  feature  blended  with  the  results  of 
these  exercises,  and  it  is,  that  the  improvement  of  the  voice 
resulting  from  them  will  be  revealed  to  the  observation  of 
others  long  before  the  pupil  will  be  perfectly  assured 
of  their  presence  himself.  The  fulness  and  melody  of  his 
voice  in  common  conversation  will  be  a  subject  of  remark 
among  his  acquaintances,  before  the  student  is  conscious  of 
the  improvement  himself. 


MUSICAL  TONES  TRANSFERABLE.  43 


CHAPTER   VII. 

/ 

THE   BEEP   AND   MUSICAL   TONES   WHICH   ARK   OCCASIONALLY   BLENDED  WITH 
THE  VOICE    OF    A    PUPIL    IN   THE    EXERCISES    OF    MUSIC    AND    DECLAMATION 

IS   IT  POSSIBLE    TO    TRANSFER   THEM    TO   THE   PRACTICAL    BUSINESS    OF 

SPEAKING  ? 

If,  in  the  course  of  exercising  tfife  organs  of  speech,  in 
Reclamation  or  in  song,  the  voice  shall  be  frequently  or 
occasionally  sounded  in  deep  and  musical  tones,  these  desira- 
ble tones  will  be  produced  by  the  application  of  a  degree  of 
exertion  which  a  speaker  or  pupil  can  recognize,  estimate,  and 
identify.  If  he  can  call  back  to  the  mind,  can  recognize  and 
identify  the  specific  measure  of  exertion  which  produced  the 
rich  and  musical  tones,  he  may  be  able  to  indulge  himself  in 
exerting  the  same  degree  of  force  again.  And  he  can  acquire 
the  faculty  of  repeating  the  application  of  the  same  degree 
of  exertion  to  the  organs  of  speech,  which  in  the  first  instance 
produced  the  musical  tones,  until  he  shall  eventually  glide 
into  the  habit  of  applying  the  specific  degree  of  force  with 
mechanical  and  unfailing  accuracy. 

The  conclusion  which  may  be  legitimately  derived  from 
the  premises  assumed  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  is  this ; 
that  if  the  pupil  can,  by  practice,  bring  to  bear,  with  mechan- 
ical and  unfailing  accuracy,  that  measure  of  force  upon  the 
organs  of  speech,  which  in  the  first  instance  produced  the 
musical  tones  of  voice,  he  will,  as  the  necessary  result  of  this 
attainment,  become  qualified  for  the  mechanical  and  unfailing 
production  of  tne  musical  and  sweet  tones  of  the  voice  when- 
ever he  shall  choose  to  do  so. 

Upon  the  two  preceding  propositions  a  third  is  suspended 
from  which  will  be  drawn  the  conclusion  which  is  sought  in 


4A  MUSIC  AND  DECLAMATION. 

this  chapter.  The  third  proposition  is, — ^that  if  the  organs 
of  speech  shall  be  mechanically  and  intelligently  trained  to 
the  production  of  certain  sweet  and  musical  tones,  by  the 
imvarying  application  of  a  specific  measure  of  force  to  them, 
then  we  are  justified  in  adopting  the  conviction  from  the 
science  of  the  human  voice,  from  the  anatomical  develop- 
ments of  the  human  system,  and  from  the  general  analogies 
of  the  case,  that  the  organs  of  speech  themselves  will  receive 
from  the  habitual  application  of  the  specified  measure  of 
force  in  question  to  them,  an  inflection,  curvation,  or  deter- 
mination, which  will  fif  them  for  the  mechanical  production 
of  the  musical  tones  which  have  been  spoken  of 

The  conclusion  from  the  preceding  propositions  combined, 
is  this ;  that  if  the  organs  of  speech,  by  the  habitual  use  of 
them  in  producing  musical  tones,  shall  receive  a  formation 
or  curvation  which  will  qualify  them  for  producing  the 
tones  in  question,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  pupil  or  speaker, 
then  this  formation  or  determination  of  the  organs  of  speech, 
is  an  acquired  or  permanent  physical  property,  which  may 
be  transferred  to  other  duties  performed  by  the  voice,  more 
important  and  momentous  than  the  preliminary  exercises. 
It  may  be  transferred  to  the  practical  business  of  speaking, 
it  may  be  habitually  blended  with  the  grave  discussipns 
of  life,  and  may  become  an  integral  element  in  the  compo- 
sition of  the  speaker's  voice. 

The  conclusion  which  has  just  been  expressed,  is  sustained 
by  the  example  of  all  masters  of  the  science  of  the  human 
voice,  who  have  yet  delighted  the  world.  With  few  ex- 
ceptions, the  most  accomplished  and  bewitching  vocalists, 
who  have  shared  the  admiration  of  the  world  in  a  measure 
of  redundant  fulness,  were  originally  destitute  of  any  pecu- 
liar charm  in  the  entertainment  of  song.  It  was  by  a  perse- 
vering resort  to  the  most  approved  modes  of  discipline,  that 
they  grafted  their  powers  of  fascination  upon  the  voice. 
And  when  they  once  succeeded  in  producing  an  isolated  note 


EXEKCISES  IN  VOCAL   MUSIC.  46 

or  sound  of  unusual  sweetness,  they  never  suspended  their 
exertions  on  the  subject  until  they  succeeded  in  the  precious 
enterprize  of  incorporating  the  attractive  note  as  an  integral 
portion  with  some  entire  and  complete  musical  performance. 


CHAPTER    ^I. 

EXKE0I8ES   IN    VOCAL    MUSIC   BENEFICIAL   TO   THE    VOIOE. 

The  voice,  like  the  mind,  is  improved,  expanded,  and  con- 
ducted to  its  highest  reach  of  perfection,  by  an  almost  indefi- 
nite range  of  appliances ;  and  amongst  the  exercises  which 
conduce  to  its  improvement,  the  exercise  of  singing  deserv- 
edly takes  a  high  rank.  The  daily  practice  of  singing  com- 
municates to  the  voice  volume  and  expansion,  invests  it  with 
energy  where  it  is  feeble,  corrects  its  hoarseness,  deepens  its 
tones,  and  grafts  upon  it  in  the  exercise  of  speaking  a  portion 
of  that  melody  and  sweetness  which  attaches  to  some  of  its 
notes  in  singing.  And  the  introduction  of  vocal  music  in 
the  exercises  of  many  primary  schools,  as  a  branch  of  disci 
pline  essential  to  the  perfect  development  of  the  pupil,  can 
not  be  too  highly  commended.  For,  independent  of  the  aid 
which  it  yields  to  the  voice  in  subsequent  life,  it  is  a  powerful 
auxiliary  to  health,  in  augmenting  the  vigor  of  the  lungs,  in 
promoting  freedom  of  respiration,  and  yielding  a  healthful 
tone  to  the  whole  system  of  the  physical  functions. 

The  object  here  is  to  consider  vocal  music  in  connection 
with  the  benefit  which  its  daily  practice  yields  to  the  human 
voice  in  the  exercise  of  conversation  and  public  speaking. 
And  there  is  one  principle  blended  both  with  the  mental  and 
physical  constitution  of  the  human  race,  which  clearly  demon- 


46  EXERCISES   IN   VOCAL  MUSIC. 

strates,  before  we  advance  farther,  the  soundness  of  the  prin 
ciple  here  contended  for,  and  that  is  the  immense  amount 
of  improvement  which  is  yielded  to  every  faculty  of  the  raiind 
and  every  function  of  the  body,  by  continued  perseverance  in 
any  well-selected  exercise.  Is  there  any  substantial  reason 
which  forbids  an  application  of  appropriate  correctives  to 
the  voice.  Without  indulging  in  a  retrospect  so  compre- 
hensive as  to  include  Demosthenes  within  its  limits,  we  may 
scan  the  roll  on  which  the  names  of  the  most  successful  speak- 
ers of  modern  times  jim  inscribed,  and  we  will  discover  that 
the  most  finished  models  in  the  art  of  enunciation,  acquired 
their  chief  graces  and  skill  from  a  constant  attention  to  the 
interests  of  the  voice. 

In  relation  to  the  persevering  practice  in  vocal  music,  we 
have  never  known  an  instance  in  which  a  beginner  in  the 
accomplishment  of  singing,  who  might  have  been  indifferent 
or  even  insufferable  at  the  commencement  of  his  career  in 
singing,  failed  to  take  rank  in  one  of  two  classes  of  perform- 
ers— that  of  being  an  agreeable  or  very  excellent  vocalist. 
And  we  have  never  known  an  instance  in  which  a  pupil  in 
the  art  of  elocution,  habitually  indulged  in  vocal  music  with 
the  view  of  improving  his  voice  in  speaking,  who  did  not 
reap  perceptible  improvement  from  the  practice ;  an  im- 
provement too,  which  continued  to  be  progressive,  as  long 
as  the  pupil  persevered  in  paying  his  devotions  at  the  shrine 
of  the  same  auxiliary.  We  know  one  very  conspicuous  in- 
stance, in  which  the  voice  of  an  acquaintance,  though  pos- 
sessed of  incalculable  strength,  was  yet  harsh,  monotonous, 
hoarse,  without  any  depth  of  tone,  without  flexibility,  with- 
out any  power  of  modulation,  and  as  one  may  naturally  sup 
pose,  without  the  slightest  pretension  to  melody,  and  who, 
yet  by  singing  in  every  variety  of  way  when  opportunity 
presented  itself,  attained  a  height  of  improvement,  which 
eventually  astonished  himself  and  his  acquaintances.  When 
the  person  in  question,  took  occasion  to  participate  in  debate, 


EXERCISES  IN  VOCAL  MUSIC.  47 

every  person  was  impressed  with  the  fulness,  clearness,  and 
flexibility  of  his  voice;  and  when  he  conversed  in  private, 
both  strangers  and  his  former  acquaintances  were  in  the 
habit  of  remarking  upon  the  mellow  and  rich  tones  of  his 
voice,  and  even  on  the  sweetness  of  its  music. 

Almost  every  person  is  in  the  habit  of  observing  the 
superiority  of  the  voice  of  the  slave  population  of  the  coun- 
try, over  that  of  the  whites,  in  vocal  music.  In  regard  to 
the  superior  melody  and  sweetness  of  the  African  voice,  we 
do  not  accede  to  the  proposition;  for  there  is  something 
wild,  vulgar,  and  indicative  of  a  want  of  intellectual  culture 
in  the  intonations  of  the  African  population  in  singing,  which 
is  characteristic  of  the  race.  But  the  superior  compass  and 
energy  of  the  African  voice,  is  so  palpable  as  to  defy  all 
efforts  at  contradiction  or  refutation.  The  superiority  of 
the  African  voice  at  the  point  which  we  have  just  admitted, 
is  manifested  in  the  surprising  facility  with  which  a  band  of 
sable  choristers  in  the  gallery  of  a  church,  will  drown  the 
more  feeble  efforts  in  sacred  music,  of  the  white  race  in  the 
seats  on  the  lower  floor.  We  also  observe  the  vast  sweep 
of  their  voices,  when  engaged  in  sacred  music  in  their  cabins 
on  the  Sabbath,  or  in  their  nocturnal  meetings.  The  same  dis- 
tinguishing property  will  present  itself  in  their  miscellaneous 
musical  exercises,  when  passing  from  one  part  of  their  mas- 
ter's farm  to  another,  or  from  the  residence  of  their  owner  to 
that  of  a  neighbor.  The  voice  of  a  juvenile  vocalist  of  this 
race,  even  without  any  extreme  effort,  will  be  heard  from  one 
boundary  of  a  large  plantation  to  its  opposite.  In  addition  to 
this,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  the  voices  of  the  slave  pop- 
ulation exhibit  greater  energy  in  ordinary  conversation,  or  in 
communicating  with  persons  at  a  great  distance,  than  those 
of  the  white  race.  Their  superiority  in  these  respects,  may 
be  safely  attributed  to  their  constant  indulgence  in  the  prac- 
tice of  singing  and  hallooing  about  their  masters'  farms 
from  infancy  to  maturity.     A  practice  to  which  they  are 


48  VOCAL  MUSIC  IN   ITS  ELEVATIONS. 

equally  lured  by  an  inherent  fondness  for  music,  and  by  a 
temperament  naturally  mirthful. 

Another  illustration  of  the  vast  addition  to  the  strength  of 
the  human  voice,  which  may  be  acquired  by  a  habitual  indulg- 
ence in  singing,  may  be  recognized  in  the  extended  reach  which 
is  usually  acquired  by  the  voices  of  ferrymen,  simply  from  the 
daily  and  sometimes  hourly  practice  of  hallooing  in  answer 
to  those  on  the  opposite  shores  of  a  river,  who  may  be  ap- 
plicants for  their  assistance  at  ferries,  where  no  better  or 
more  artificial  signal  may  have  been  adopted.  Every  person 
may  also  refer  to  the  great  additional  clearness  and  ful- 
ness which  will  be  communicated  to  his  own  voice  imme- 
diately after  having  finished  a  hymn  or  song  of  any  descrip- 
tion, provided  they  may  not  have  sung  with  so  much  vehem- 
ence as  to  superinduce  a  temporary  hoarseness. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  MODE  BY  WHICH  VOCAL  MUSIC  IS  RENDERED  BENEFICIAL  TO  THE  VOICE. 

It  may  be  adopted  as  an  axiom,  that  the  voice  of  every 
human  being  may  be  rendered  more  available  for  the  pur- 
poses of  public  speaking,  by  a  constant  resort  to  the  discip- 
line afforded  by  vocal  music.  Voices  of  unusual  strength 
and  compass  may  be  improved  in  sweetness,  in  softness,  in 
depth  of  tone,  and  in  the  power  of  modulation,  by  the  perse- 
vering application  of  this  exercise;  dull  and  monotonous 
voices  may  receive  from  it  animation  and  melody ;  whilst 
feeble  voices,  in  addition  to  the  benefits  already  enumerated, 
may  reap  from  it  a  vast  augmentation  of  strength. 

But  the  mode  of  applying  this  discipline  has  not  been 
specified.  And  it  may  here  be  observed,  that  whilst  every 
candidate  for  the  honors  of  superior  excellence  in  speaking 


VOCAL  MUSIC   IN  ITS  ELEVATION.  49 

may  instinctively  adopt  some  exercise  for  the  improvement 
of  the  voice  peculiar  to  himself,  and  which  he  will  also 
instinctively  correct  as  its  defects  may  be  disclosed  to  him  by 
daily  practice  and  observation — yet,  in  relation  to  the  practice 
of  singing,  it  may  be  observed  that  there  are  certain  rules  to 
be  observed,  by  the  faithful  application  of  which  the  pupil 
may  greatly  abbreviate  both  his  labors  and  the  length  of  the 
route  to  the  goal  of  excellence. 

One  of  the  primary  exercises  of  the  pupil,  in  the  applica- 
tion of  the  discipline  of  music  to  his  voice,  is,  whenever 
opportunity  may  present  itself,  to  select  a  verse  of  some 
hymn  or  a  portion  of  some  song  with  which  he  may  be  familiar, 
and  having  first  pitched  his  voice  oh  a  key  of  as  much  eleva- 
tion as  may  be  consistent  with  his  vocal  powers,  and  with  a 
due  regard  to  the  safety  of  the  lungs,  then  to  sing  the  verse 
throughout  at  the  utmost  reach  of  his  voice.  The  object  to 
be  attained  in  pitching  the  voice  on  an  alto  or  high  key,  is 
for  the  purpose  of  imparting  to  it  elevation  of  reach  and 
depth,  as  well  as  sweetness  of  tone,  by  the  process  of  tension, 
or  stretching  the  organs  of  speech. 

This  exercise  will  prove  in  some  degree  irksome  to  a  pupil 
who  has  not  been  much  habituated  to  singing,  but  the  fe,tigue 
resulting  from  the  operation  will  certainly  be  vanquished  by 
daily  repetition.  And  by  way  of  diminishing  the  amount  of 
labor  connected  with  this  discipline,  a  pupil  who  has  not  been 
previously  trained  to  any  great  extent,  by  the  exercise  of 
vocal  music  in  church  services  or  elsewhere,  may  adopt  as 
his  daily  exercise  for  the  first  few  days  after  he  has  com- 
menced this  mode  of  improvement,  one  verse  of  some  familiar 
hymn  or  song,  and  sing  it  with  the  utmost  reach  of  his  voice, 
and  then  abandon  the  labor  until  the  next  day.  And  when 
he  repairs  to  his  selected  place  for  practice  on  a  succeeding 
day,  let  him  sing  his  favorite  verse  again,  and  then  pause, 
and  after  having  paused  for  the  space  of  five  minutes,  if  his 
voice  has  not  been  too  severely  taxed  by  singing  the  verse 

3 


50  VOCAL  MUSIC  IN  ITS  ELEVATION. 

over  one  time  to  admit  a  repetition  of  it,  let  him  sing  it  over 
again,  on  the  same  elevated  key  which  has  been  already 
recommended.  Let  him  continue  the  method  of  exercise 
here  suggested,  until  he  may  be  able  to  sing  the  one  verse 
on  a  high  key  with  perfect  ease,  and  he  will  find  that  his  ease 
in  singing  it  will  be  increased  at  each  instance  in  which  it  is 
repeated,  provided  he  may  not  repeat  it  so  often  in  rapid 
succession  as  to  produce  hoarseness. 

After  he  has  ascertained  that  he  can  sing  the  selected  verse 
with  perfect  ease,  let  him  then  from  time  to  time  daily  add 
another  verse  to  his  lesson,  as  his  improvement  may  require, 
and  the  strength  of  his  lungs  may  permit,  until  he  can  sing 
the  whole  hymn  or  song. 

And  although,  in  his  future  and  more  advanced  exercises, 
he  may  retain  the  hymn  which  was  adopted  as  his  first  lesson, 
as  a  daily  or  occasional  exercise,  yet  for  the  purpose  of 
yielding  to  his  voice  a  varied  kind  of  discipline,  he  should 
bring  into  his  service  other  hymns,  songs,  and  tunes,  which 
he  may  find  by  practical  experience  to  be  conducive  to  the 
improvement  of  his  voice  in  elevation  of  reach,  and  in  sweet- 
ness and  profundity  of  tone. 

The  use  of  a  single  verse  to  beginners,  has  been  recom- 
mended only  in  those  instances  where  the  voice  will  not 
bear  the  exercise  comprehended  in  singing  a  greater  number 
of  verses,  without  inducing  fatigue  or  injury  to  the  lungs. 
Where  a  pupil,  even  at  the  commencement  of  the  exercise, 
can  sing  a  considerable  number  of  verses  without  incurring 
fatigue,  and  without  taxing  the  lungs  and  the  vocal  functions 
too  greatly,  he  may  sing  any  quantity  he  pleases,  having  a 
view  at  the  same  time  to  the  prevention  of  hoarseness,  which, 
though  not  a  permanent  injury  to  the  voice,  will  render  the 
subject  of  this  exercise,  in  some  degree,  incompetent  on  the 
succeeding  day,  and  perhaps  for  several  days,  to  engage  in 
the  desired  exercise  with  ease  and  advantage  to  himself. 

But  it  may  be  liere  suggested  to  the  pupil,  as  an  indis- 


VOCAL  MUSIC  IN  ITS  DESCENT.  51 

pensable  rule,  even  at  the  commencement  of  the  mode  of 
discipline  pointed  out  in  the  previous  portions  of  this  article, 
after  having  finished  the  daily  exercise  of  singing  one  or  more 
verses,  on  the  highest  key  which  the  voice  can  bear  to  ad- 
vantage, then  to  sing  the  same  verse,  or  the  verses  of  another 
hymn  or  song,  on  that  key  which  will  afford  perfect  ease, 
without  descending  to  a  pitch  which  will  prove  so  low  as  to 
be  both  destitute  of  melody  and  of  the  benefit  of  discipline 
to  the  voice.  The  exercise  last  pointed  out  should  be  an 
unfailing  supplement  of  the  alto  key  in  singing ;  and  whilst 
the  first  will  give  to  the  voice  elevation,  compass,  and  depth, 
the  latter  exercise  will  preserve  for  it  flexibility,  ease,  the 
power  of  modulation,  and  the  natural  key. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE   MODE   BY   WHICH    VOCAL   MUSIC    IS   EENDEBED   TRIBUTARY   TO   THE 
ACCOMPLISHMENT    OF    SPEAKING. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  shaping  the  proposition  too  broadly  to 
instruct  a  pupil  in  the  art  of  enunciation  to  sing  a  verse  or 
verses  on  the  natural  key  of  his  voice,  immediately  after 
having  engaged  in  the  exercise  of  singing  with  his  voice 
raised  to  its  highest  pitch,  for  almost  any  degree  lower  than 
the  highest,  appears  so  easy  when  sung  just  after  the  vocal 
functions  have  been  released  from  the  straining  effect  of  an 
alto  key,  as  to  seem#at  the  time  to  be  the  natural  one.  But 
it  will  be  a  beneficial  exercise  for  the  pupil  to  exercise  his 
voice  on  some  of  the  intermediate  keys  below  the  highest, 
immediately  subsequent  to  singing  on  that,  for  the  purpose 
of  tuning  the  voice  or  of  bringing  it  down  to  its  natural  level 
again.  He  may  probably  strike  the  natural  pitch  or  level  of 
his  voice,  immediately  after  having  raised  his  voice  to  its 


52  VOCAL  MUSIC  IN  ITS  DESCENT. 

highest  pitch  in  singing  a  hymn  or  song,  but  the  probabilities 
are  against  the  happening  of  any  such  event,  and  if  it  should 
happen  to  be  the  case,  it  will  be  merely  an  accidental  cir- 
cumstance, unless  the  pupil  has,  by  long  practice  and  study, 
acquired  great  skill  and  expertness  in  the  management  of 
the  voice.  For  the  voice,  immediately  after  having  been 
subjected  to  intense  exertion,  is  not  in  a  tuneable  state,  and 
cannot  be  naturally  brought  to  its  usual  level  in  conversa- 
tion or  in  singing.  It  may  appear  to  be  the  natural  level  at 
the  time,  but  the  pupil  will  find,  after  he  has  repeated  a 
verse  or  two  in  singing,  that  there  is  still  a  key  a  little  above 
or  a  little  below  the  one  which  he  has  selected,  which  is  the 
natural  one. 

The  best  method  by  which  to  strike  the  natural  key,  is  to 
postpone  the  effort  to  obtain  the  natural  key,  or  level  of  the 
voice,  until  some  hours  afterwards,  when  the  voice  has  got- 
ten over  the  straining  effects  of  an  alto  key,  and  descended 
to  its  wonted  and  natural  key  or  level.  When  the  pupil  does 
succeed  in  obtaining  the  natural  pitch  of  the  voice  for  sing- 
ing, he  should  sing  some  favorite  hymn  or  song,  or  any  num- 
ber of  them  he  chooses,  on  this  particular  key,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  habituating  his  voice  to  it,~which  is  the  only  one 
upon  which  he  will  be  enabled  to  speak  with  a  remarkable 
degree  of  fluency  or  grace  through  life. 

When  singing  on  this  key,  he  will  discover  the  benefit 
which  he  has  reaped  previously  by  exercising  on  a  high  key, 
only  in  one  way,  and  that  is  in  the  great  comparative  ease  with 
which  he  sings  on  the  natural  key — just  as  a  historical  work, 
or  any  work  in  general  literature,  appeals  almost  as  easy  as 
a  primer  or  a  spelling-book,  just  afler  the  mind  has  been  re- 
leased from  the  taxing  process  of  solving  some  severe  prob- 
lem in  mathematical  science. 

But  notwithstanding  the  benefit  of  having  previously  exer- 
cised the  voice  on  a  high  key  in  singing,  may  not  be  palpable 
to  the  practitioner,  when  he  aflerwards  sings  on  the  natural 


ITS  TIME.  63 

key  of  his  voice,  yet  the  benefit  does  exist,  and  he  will  dis- 
cover it  in  the  exercise  of  speaking  or  reading  on  the  natural 
key  of  his  voice,  immediately  after  he  has  finished  the  exer- 
cise of  singing  a  hymn  or  a  song  on  the  natural  key. 

He  will  find  that  the  voice,  after  having  been  previously 
taxed  up  to  its  highest  capabilities,  by  the  alto  key,  performs 
its  offices  with  a  surprising  increase  of  facility  on  the  lower 
and  natural  key,  just  as  a  racer  runs  with  a  vast  increase  of 
ease  and  celerity  when  he  puts  on  light  shoes  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  race,  after  having  had  his  feet  encumbered 
for  some  weeks  previously  with  heavy  brogans  or  thick- 
soled  shoes. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE  QUANTITY   OF   TIME   WHICH   SHOULD   BE   DEVOTED   TO   VOCAL   MUSIO 
BY   A   PUPIL   IN   ELOCUTION. 

There  can  be  no  definitive  length  of  time  prescribed  for 
exercising  the  voice  daily  in  singing  on  an  elevated  key,  at 
the  terminus  of  which  the  pupil  must  stop,  and  beyond 
which  improvement  to  palpable  observation  cannot  extend. 
Nor  is  there  any  specific  number  of  tunes  in  each  day  for 
the  exercise  of  the  voice  in  this  way,  which  is  clearly  prefer- 
able to  any  other  number.  On  this  point  the  pupil  often  hav- 
ing applied  the  exercise  to  his  vocal  improvement  for  a  con- 
siderable space  of  time,  whether  that  space  of  time  shall 
be  measured  by  weeks,  months,  or  years,  will  be  enabled  to 
determine  with  a  nearer  approach  to  certainty  from  his  own 
progress  in  improvement,  than  by  any  other  standard  or 
rule. 

But  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  tenable  proposition,  that 
though  the  exercise  of  singing  on  the  specified  keys  is  not  to 


54  VOCAL  MUSIC,    ITS  TIME. 

be  persisted  in  daily,  until  the  close  of  life,  to  the  end  that 
the  desired  improvement  may  be  reached;  yet  the  pupil 
should  submit  to  this  exercise  daily,  or  as  often  as  opportu- 
nity may  permit  him,  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  whether 
it  be  six  months,  a  year,  or  even  more,  to  satisfy  him  that 
he  has  achieved  the  objects  for  which  the  exercise  was  origin- 
ally commenced.  This  he  will  be  enabled  to  ascertain  with 
almost  infallible  certainty,  from  the  improved  facility  with 
which  he  can  read  a  speech  or  address,  or  any  passage  in  a 
book.  He  may  discover  the  improvement  which  has  been 
effected  by  this  exercise,  after  he  has  persisted  in  it  for  a  con- 
siderable length  of  time,  by  the  enlarged  compass  of  his 
voice,  and  by  the  improved  melody  of  the  intonations  of  his 
voice,  both  in  declamation  and  in  singing.  And  his  friends, 
perhaps  to  his  surprise  and  gratification,  will  begin  occa- 
sionally to  remark  on  the  tuneful  fineness  of  his  voice. 

When  he  has  progressed  sufficiently  far  in  the  daily  adop- 
tion of  this  exercise  to  discover  that  the  excellence  imparted 
to  his  voice  has  become  in  some  degree  habitual,  he  may 
then  suspend  it  as  a  daily  exercise,  and  resume  it  occasionally 
again  when  opportunity  presents  itself,  for  the  purpose  of 
preserving  the  benefit  acquired,  and  of  rendering  it  a  perma 
nent  possession. 

After  the  voice  has  been  once  augmented  in  its  vigor, 
deepened  in  its  tones,  and  sweetened  in  its  notes,  a  resort  to 
this  exercise  may  be  made  once  in  a  week,  once  in  a  month, 
or  at  such  returning  periods  as  may  be  afforded  to  the  pupil 
by  solitude  or  by  his  general  convenience,  reference  always 
being  had  to  the  preservation  of  the  improvement  which  has 
been  acquired  by  previous  discipline. 

As  to  the  number  of  times  a  pupil  should  engage  in  this 
exercise  each  day,  it  may  be  suggested  that  once  is  sufficient, 
but  he  may  indulge  in  it  more  frequently  if  opportunities 
present  themselves,  and  it  should  be  dictated  by  his  own 
convenience  and  pleasure. 


MUSIC  ON  THE  NATURAL  KEY.  55 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE   EXERCISE   OF  VOCAL    MUSIC   CONDUCTED  ON   THE    NATURAL   KEY  OF   THE 
VOICE — ITS    EFFECT. 

Some  remarks  have  been  made  in  a  preceding  chapter  in 
commendation  of  the  practice  of  singing  a  hymn  or  song, 
with  the  voice  pitched  to  its  natural  key.  The  object  in 
adopting  this  practice  as  a  daily  exercise,  is  to  train  or  hab- 
ituate the  voice,  by  daily  discipline  in  this  particular  mode, 
to  that  pitch  or  elevation  in  speaking,  which  is  natural  and 
easy  to  the  speaker.  Every  human  being  has  some  grade 
or  key  in  his  voice,  on  which  he. converses,  speaks  and  sings 
with  greater  facility  and  effect  than  on  any  other  key.  Per- 
sons may  converse  and  speak  intelligibly  on  a  lower  key 
than  the  natural  one,  and  they  may  speak  and  converse  in- 
telligibly on  a  key  of  greater  elevation  than  the  natural  key. 
They  may  also  sing  agreeably  on  a  key  of  greater  or  less 
elevation  than  the  natural  one.  But  they  cannot  engage  in 
either  of  these  exercises  with  such  perfect  ease  and  grace, 
and  with  so  much  satisfaction  to  others,  on  any  key  except 
that  which  is  natural  or  constitutional  to  the  person. 

It  should  be  an  object  of  constant  solicitude  then,  with 
every  pupil  who  is  seeking  either  improvement  or  perfection 
in  the  art  of  enunciation,  to  ascertain  by  constant  attention 
and  effort,  which  is  the  natural  pitch  of  his  voice  for  singing 
and  speaking.  And  when  he  has  once  ascertained  this  fact, 
then  he  should  by  daily  singing  and  speaking  less  o^  more 
on  that  key,  aim  to  make  himself  so  perfect  a  possessor  and 
master  of  it,  as  to  be  able  to  summon  it  to  his  aid  whenever 
he  commences  speaking. 

As  to  the  time  when  the  exercise  of  singing  on  the  natural 
key  should  Be  put  in  requisition  by  the  pupil,  there  is  no 


56  MUSIC  ON  THE  NATURAL  KEY. 

period  which  is  decidedly  wrong  or  incontestibly  right.  The 
pupil  may  be  governed  in  the  selection  of  the  time  by  his 
own  opportunities  and  pleasure,  and  may  indulge  in  the  ex- 
ercise when  he  chooses,  and  as  often  as  he  chooses.  But  it 
is  not  the  most  favorable  occasion  for  striking  with  certainty 
on  the  right  key  of  the  voice,  immediately  after  the  pupil 
has  been  practicing  the  voice  in  music,  on  an  alto  or  very 
high  key.  The  voice  at  that  time  having  been  just  released 
from  an  intense  exertion,  which  has  given  it  an  unusual  ex- 
pansion, will  not  be  in  a  condition  to  yield  notes  on  the  nat- 
ural key  with  unerring  certainty.  And  although  the  pupil 
may  beneficially  practice  on  lower  keys  than  the  highest, 
in^mediately  after  having  practiced  on  an  alto  or  high  key, 
yet  he  cannot  rest  perfectly  assured  then,  that  he  has 
selected  the  right  key  of  tj^e  voice,  for  the  reason  already 
assigned,  that  any  key  at  that  time  will  appear  so  easy  in 
comparison  with  the  straining  effect  of  the  highest,  as  to  seem 
to  be  the  natural  one. 

The  preferable  and  most  certain  mode  by  which  to  ascer- 
tain the  natural  key,  is  to  practice  the  voice  some  hours  after 
it  has  been  exercised  on  the  alto  key  in  singing,  on  the  lower 
keys,  until  the  one  which  is  perfectly  easy  and  natural  shall 
be  discovered. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

TOOAL  MUSIC  ON  THE  NATURAL  KEY  Ot   THE  VOICE— OONTINUBD. 

To  guard  against  error  and  misconception  in  this  partic- 
ular, it  is  proper  to  suggest  to  the  pupil,  that  in  making  his 
efforts  to  obtain  the  natural  key  of  the  voice,  he  may  select 
a  key  sufficiently  low  to  be  perfectly  easy,  but  which  yields 
no  music,  and  the  exercise  afforded  by  which,  will  yield  no 


MUSIC   ON  THE  NATURAL  KEY.  57 

melody  or  improvement  of  any  kind  to  the  voice.  In  mak- 
ing the  selection  then,  a  great  degree  of  attention  is  requi- 
site at  times,  to  enable  him  to  discriminate  between  various 
pitches  of  the  voice,  which  are  very  similar  in  regard  to  the 
measure  of  ease  with  which  he  may  sing  on  them,  and  also  in 
regard  to  the  portion  of  sound  which  they  respectively  yield. 

It  is  known  to  every  person  who  has  participated  even  to 
a  limited  extent  in  vocal  music,  that  in  almost  every  hymn 
or  song,  sharp  or  alto  notes  occur  in  every  verse  or  stanza, 
either  at  the  middle  of  a  line  or  at  its  close.  These  notes 
tax  the  voice  at  times,  to  carry  them  out  full  and  perfect,  to 
the  utmost  limit  of  its  powers.  At  other  times  the  voice, 
from  the  fact  of  these  notes  being  at  a  point  of  sharpness 
beyond  its  reach,  will  drop  them,  skip  them  over,  or  sound 
them  with  a  broken  or  imperfect  intonation.  When  the 
voice  fails,  in  the  exercise  of  singing,  to  give  to  the  alto  or 
sharp  notes  which  have  been  mentioned,  a  full  and  swelling 
sound,  this  fact  furnishes  positive  proof  that  the  pupil  is  not 
on  a  key  natural  to  his  voice.  And  the  habitual  practice  of 
singing  without  giving  a  full  and  perfect  sound  to  the  sharp 
or  alto  notes,  is  injurious  to  the  voice  in  the  same  way  that 
the  habit  of  dropping  any  portion  of  an  evolution  in  dancing 
injures  the  pupil  in  that  species  of  performance.  It  grafts 
upon  his  person  habitual  irregularity,  and  is  a  bar  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  graces  of  motion.  This  habit  in  singing, 
most  assuredly  as  an  exercise  in  connection  with  improve- 
ment in  speaking,  should  be  sedulously  avoided. 

The  certain  way  of  enabling  the  pupil  to  appropriate  the 
proper  and  natural  key  to  himself,  is  to  sound  the  different 
pitches  or  keys  of  the  voice,  previous  to  commencing  the 
exercise  of  singing,  and  he  will  thus,  after  repeated  efforts, 
be  able  to  perceive  the  natural  key  or  pitch,  from  its  adap- 
tation to  his  voice. 

When  he  has  discovered  the  right  or  natural  key,  let  him 
then  sing  a  verse  or  an  entire  hymn  or  song  on  that  key,  as 

3* 


58       SHABP  NOTES  SHOULD  BE  FULL. 

circumstances  may  dictate.  And  let  him  repeat  the  exercise 
regularly  every  day  for  such  a  length  of  time  as  to  acquire 
the  perfect  mastery  of  it,  and  establish  it  a&  a  habit.  And 
he  may  also  practice  it  occasionally  when  opportunity  may 
permit,  until  the  close  of  life. 

When  the  pupil  has  sounded  the  different  keys  of  his 
voice,  for  the  purpose  of  finding  the  one  which  is  natural, 
and  commences  a  hymn  or  song,  supposing  he  has  struck 
the  right  one,  if  he  should  find  after  exercising  for  a  short 
time,  that  it  is  the  wrong  key,  he  should  suspend  the  exer- 
cise for  awhile,  and  renew  his  efforts  to  obtain  the  right  one, 
for  the  object  which  he  is  seeking  is  not  obtained  until  he 
finds  the  right  key.  That  object  is  to  acquire  a  habitual 
practice  of  singing  and  speaking  on  the  natural  key. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE  ALTO  OR  HIGHEST  KEY  TO  BE  ADOPTED  IN  MUSICAL  EXERCISES  ONLY 
WHEN  THE  PUPIL  IN  ELOCUTION  GIVES  FULL  SOUND  TO  THE  SHARPEST 
AND   HIGHEST   NOTES. 

It  must  not  be  apprehended,  from  the  remarks  in  the  pr©. 
ceding  chapter,  which  cautioned  the  pupil  against  the  adoption 
of  a  high  pitch  for  the  voice  when  practicing  on  the  natural 
key,  with  a  view  of  making  the  latter  key  habitual,  that  it  is 
considered  advisable  that  the  alto  pitch  should  be  discarded 
altogether  as  an  exercise.  The  whole  tenor  of  the  early 
numbers  on  this  subject  clearly  prohibit  any  such  con- 
clusion. The  alto  key,  which  may  be  the  treble  to  some 
voices,  the  tenor  to  others,  and  the  counter  to  another  class, 
is  regarded  as  an  invaluable  exercise.  But  it  is  principally 
to  be  Begarded  in  the  nature  of  a  preliminary  discipline.  It 
is  intended  to  augment  the  enei^ies  of  the  voice,  to  give  it 


SHAEP  NOTES  SHOULD  BE  FULL.        59 

elevation  of  reach  and  depth  of  tone,  to  clarify  it,  and  to 
increase  the  music  of  its  intonations. 

The  exercise  of  singing  on  this  key  should  never  be  suc- 
ceeded by  an  exercise  in  declamation  or  reading,  without  the 
intervening  exercise  of  singing  on  the  natural  key  of  the 
voice.  For  the  pupil,  without  the  adoption  of  the  last-men- 
tioned exercise,  will  not  be  able,  without  a  mere  accident,  to 
strike  the  natural  key  of  the  voice  in  speaking,  where  he  has 
been  previously  engaged  in  speaking  or  singing  on  the  highest 
key  of  his  voice. 

And  here  it  is  necessary  to  remark,  that  when  the  alto 
key  is  advised  as  a  profitable  exercise  for  the  human  voice, 
no  such  elevated  key  is  advocated  as  will  not  permit  the 
pupil,  in  the  exercise  of  singing,  to  give  full  and  perfect 
sound  to  every  note  in  a  hymn  or  song — the  highest  and  sharp- 
est, as  well  as  the  flattest  and  lowest.  By  habitually  or  even 
occasionally  pitching  the  voice  on  such  a  high  key  in  singing 
as  to  compel  the  pupil  to  drop  the  sharper  notes  or  to  give 
them  an  imperfect  sound,  the  voice  is  injured  both  for  the 
exercise  of  singing  and  speaking. 

For  .whenever  the  voice  may  be  pitched  on  a  key  of  such 
great  elevation,  the  disposition  to  omit  the  sharper  notes 
becomes  habitual  in  the  exercise  of  vocal  music,  and  it  will 
be  transferred  in  some  degree  from  the  exercise  of  singing 
to  that  of  speaking.  Not  that  the  pupil  in  speaking  will  omit 
words  in  a  speech  or  address,  because  he  has  previously 
omitted  to  give  a  full  and  swelling  sound  to  a  note  in  singing, 
but  because  his  voice,  when  raised  in  speaking,  will  give  an 
imperfect  sound  to  words,  from  the  fact  of  having  been  pre- 
viously habituated  to  giving  an  imperfect  sound  or  no  sound 
at  all  to  certain  sharp  notes  in  vocal  music. 

The  great  object  to  be  attained  in  exercising  the  voice  on 
an  alto  or  high  key  in  singing,  is  to  raise  it  to  the  very  loftiest 
pitch  which  will  permit  the  pupil  to  give  a  perfect,  full,  and 
swelling  sound  to  every  note  in  a  hymn  or  song.     Every 


60  DECLAMATION  ON"  THE  NATURAL  KEY. 

time  he  accomplishes  this  object,  on  an  alto  or  high  key,  he 
adds  to  the  powers  and  resources  of  his  voice.  This  extreme 
exercise  is  to  the  human  voice  what  the  highest  branches  c^ 
mathematical  science  are  to  the  human  mind. 


CHAPTER  XV 


VOCAL  MUSIC,  CONDUCTED  ON  THE  NATURAL  KEY  OF  THE  VOICE,  TO  BE  BUO- 
OEEDED  IMMEDIATELY  BY  AN  EXERCISE  IN  READING  OR  IN  DECLAMATION 
ON   THE   SAME   KEY. 

What  has  been  designated,  in  the  previous  numbers,  as 
the  natural  key  for  the  human  voice  in  vocal  music,  corre- 
sponds with  the  same  key  in  the  voice  when  employed  in 
speaking  or  in  reading.  And  every  person  who  chooses  to 
make  the  experiment,  will  find  that  when  he  has  finished  a 
piece  of  music  of  any  description,  which  he  may  be  compe- 
tent to  sing,  on  the  natural  key,  giving  to  each  note  its  full 
sound,  that  the  exercise  of  reading  or  speaking  adopted  after 
an  interval  of  five  or  ten  minutes  shall  have  elapsed  from  the 
close  of  such  musical  exercise,  will  be  conducted  with  an  ease 
and  freedom  which  can  be  rarely  attained  under  any  other 
circumstances. 

It  may  be  also  clearly  ascertained,  by  a  due  share  of  atten- 
tion to  the  subject,  that  when  any  performance  in  vocal  music 
has  been  sung  on  a  high  or  sharp  key,  and  is  followed  in 
quick  succession  by  an  exercise  in  declamation  or  in  reading, 
the  exercise  of  speaking  will  be  executed  very  imperfectly 
and  with  great  difficulty. 

The  cause  of  this  imperfection  and  difficulty  may  be  traced 
to  the  fact  that  the' voice  in  speaking  falls  immediately  on 
that  key  which  has  preceded  it  in  the  labor  of  singing.  It 
has  contracted  its  character  temporarily  from  the  key  on 
which  it  was  exercised  in  music,  and  it  takes  its  direction  so 


DECLAMATION  ON  THE  NATUEAL  KEY.  61 

strongly  towards  that  key,  whilst  the  influence  of  the  previous 
exercise  in  singing  remains,  that  it  will  adhere  to  the  voice 
throughout  the  declamation  or  reading  of  an  entire  speech  or 
article  of  any  kind  which  is  commenced  immediately  after 
the  hymn  or  song  is  closed.  To  illustrate  the  justness  of 
the  preceding  remarks,  we  uniformly  see  how  vehement, 
irregular,  and  destitute  of  flexibility  the  voice  of  a  minister 
will  be  in  preaching  a  sermon  immediately  after  having  raised 
the  hymns  in  the  church  service  for  his  congregation,  pro- 
vided he  has  sung  with  sharpness  and  vehemence. 

A  pupil  in  the  art  of  singing,  if  he  intends  to  engage  in  the 
exercise  of  reading  or  declamation  on  the  natural  key  of  his 
voice  in  the  evening,  may  sing  a  piece  of  music  on  the  highest 
key  which  his  voice  will  permit  on  the  morning  immediately 
preceding  the  intended  exercise.  And  so  may  a  public 
speaker,  in  the  maturity  of  his  experience,  participate  in  Jhe 
exercise  of  singing  on  an  alto  or  high  key,  in  the  morning, 
where  he  designs  to  make  a  public  speech  on  the  evening  of 
the  same  day,  or  on  the  day  immediately  succeeding,  for  the 
voice,  in  this  instance,  will  have  time  to  contract  and  descend 
to  its  natural  key  before  the  exercise  of  speaking  commences 
either  with  the  pupil  or  the  speaker  in  full  practice.  Or  if 
the  pupil  or  speaker  should  be  distrustful  of  the  voice  resum- 
ing its  natural  key  at  the  required  or  appointed  time,  it  will 
be  very  easy  for  him  to  sing  a  hymn  or  song  on  the  natural 
key  of  the  voice,  and  it  will  certainly  perform  its  functions 
on  the  proper  key,  when  the  exercise  of  reading  or  speaking 
has  to  be  commenced. 

And  the  pupil,  when  he  wishes  to  read  with  ease  or  declaim 
with  ease,  should  daily  precede  this  exercise,  when  practicing, 
by  having  previously  trained  his  voice,  by  singing  a  hymn 
or  song  on  its  natural  key,  and  the  lawyer  or  member  of 
any  deliberative  assembly,  should  adopt  the  same  prelim- 
inary exercises,  when  he  intends  to  make  a  speech  in  court, 
or  in  a  deliberative  assembly. 


62  THE  PROPER  TUNES. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    PARTICULAR   TUNES   BY   WHICH   THE   VOICE    OF   A   SPEAKER   SHOULD    BE 
EXERCISED   IN   VOCAL   MUSIC. 

The  safest  and  most  infallible  criterion  by  which  to  be 
governed  in  the  selection  of  music  for  the  exercise  and  im- 
provement of  the  voice,  is  to  consider  the  tunes  with  which 
the  pupil  is  acquainted,  with  reference  to  their  adaptation  to 
the  easy  elevation  and  cadence  of  the  voice.  And  he  will 
inevitably  derive  the  largest  share  of  improvement  from  the 
habitual  repetition  in  song  of  those  tunes,  whether  they  be 
connected  with  hymns  or  songs,  which  admit  of  the  loftiest 
elevations  and  lowest  depressions  of  the  voice  in  singing  the 
different  verses  which  enter  into  their  formation,  or  in  singing 
any  portion  of  a  verse.  When  a  portion  of  a  verse  is  re- 
ferred to,  it  will  occur  to  every  one  who  may  be  at  all  fa- 
miliar with  vocal  music,  that  some  pieces  of  music  may  be 
sung  throughout  with  the  voice  upon  an  uninterrupted  level, 
there  being  no  point  in  them  at  which  the  voice  of  the  vocal- 
ist is  raised  to  an  exalted  pitch  of  elevation,  or  subjected  to 
a  very  considerable  descent  or  depression. 

There  are  other  pieces  of  music  again,  in  which  the  eleva- 
tions of  the  voice,  and  its  depressions  or  descents,  occur  once 
or  more  in  every  successive  verse.  And  there  are  other 
musical  compositions,  in  which  the  elevations  and  descents 
of  the  voice  occur  only  in  every  alternate  verse,  the  inter- 
mediate verse  being  always  sung  with  the  voice  on  a  perfect 
level,  without  imposing  any  effort  or  exertion  on  the  vocal 
organs  whatever. 

In  each  of  the  foregoing  descriptions  of  music,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  it  is  the  exercise  of  the  voice  in 
singing  the  particular  verses  in  a  composition,  in  which  tho 
elevations  and  descents  of  the  voice  are  easily  combined  in 


THE  PEOPER  TUNES.  63 

one  line,  or  where  the  elevation  occurs  at  the  commencement 
of  one  line,  and  the  descent  takes  place  at  the  termination  of 
a  line  which  immediately  succeeds  it,  that  yields  a  special 
degree  of  benefit  to  the  voice  of  a  pupil  in  elocution. 

The  source  of  this  improvenient  may  be  found  in  this  fact, 
that  when  the  voice  is  frequently  subjected  in  the  exercise  of 
vocal  music  to  a  sudden  and  easy  transition  from  lofty  eleva- 
tions to  sudden  descents  or  depressions,  then  it  is  improved 
by  this  very  exercise  in  the  qualities  of  flexibility  and  soft- 
ness, and  in  its  powers  of  modulation. 

As  the  limbs,  by  a  frequent  indulgence  in  the  exercise  of 
running  and  dancing,  may  acquire  a  peculiar  degree  of  nim- 
bleness  and  elasticity  for  that  particular  exercise,  which  may 
be  beneficially  felt  in  walking  and  other  exercises  of  the  per- 
son, which  require  less  exertion  than  those  of  dancing  and 
running,  and  which  may  be  transferred  to  the  more  moder 
ate  exercises  of  the  person ;  so  in  a  similar  manner  the  hu- 
man voice,  when  frequently  subjected  to  elevations  and 
depressions,  combined  with  very  short  intervals  between 
them  in  the  same  verse  of  a  piece  of  music,  will  not  only  be 
visibly  improved  for  musical  exercises  by  this  particular 
discipline,  but  the  benefit  will  be  transferred  to  the  voice  in 
conversation  and  in  public  speaking,  by  rendering  it  softer, 
more  flexible,  and  sweet  in  its  tones. 

In  speaking  of  elevations  and  descents  of  the  human  voice 
in  this  chapter,  the  two  extremes  of  the  voice,  the  high  and 
the  low,  are  referred  to  in  this  exercise  as  a  combination  of 
two  different  notes  in  one  measured  stretch  or  sound  of  the 
voice  forming  an  unit — just  as  the  hand  is  deliberately  raised 
by  an  exertion  of  the  will  to  the  forehead,  and  brought  down 
again  quietly  to  the  side,  or  just  as  a  person  may  be  smoothly 
elevated  to  the  highest  story  of  an  edifice  by  the  application 
of  a  tackle,  and  is  deliberately  lowered  again  to  the  basement 
or  ground-floor,  by  letting  the  tackle  down  again.  In  this 
exercise  the  human  voice  is  deliberately  elevated  in  one 


64  THE  PKOPEE  TUNES. 

strain  to  its  highest  pitch,  and  "without  any  suspension  pf  t\xa 
sound  let  down  again  or  lowered  by  almost  imperceptible 
gradations  to  the  lowest  key. 

The  preceding  exercise  for  the  voice  is  broadly  different 
from  that  discipline  which  consists  in  great  elevations  and 
depressions  of  the  voice  in  declamation  and  in  vocal  mu- 
sic, which,  instead  of  being  prosecuted  or  conducted  in  a 
blended  form,  are  executed  and  perfected  distinct  and  sep- 
arate from  each  other,  as  pure  elevations  or  pure  depress- 
ions or  cadences.  The  voice  in  the  exercise  of  vocal  music, 
is  sometimes  raised  to  a  very  great  pitch  of  elevation,  with- 
out lowering  it  again  at  all.  This  exercise  is  merely  intended 
to  give  the  voice  reach,  expansion  and  depth  of  tone,  by  the 
application  of  the  principle  called  tension,  which  is  the  oper- 
ation or  act  of  keeping  it  on  a  continuous  stretch  for  several 
moments. 

The  voice  may  also  in  declamation  and  in  vocal  music  be 
placed  on  a  very  low  or  moderate  key,  and  kept  there  during 
the  entire  exercise,  for  the  purpose  of  inuring  and  disciplin- 
ing the  voice  for  the  easy  articulation  of  soft  and  low  tones 
in  public  speaking,  which  may  be  greatly  essential  at  times 
to  the  perfection  of  its  beauty  in  speaking,  as  well  as  to  in- 
vest it  with  peculiar  effect.  This  last,  instead  of  forming  a 
combination  or  blending  of  two  sounds,  the  high  and  the 
low,  in  one  stretch  of  the  voice,  like  that  referred  to  in  the 
early  stage  of  this  chapter,  may  be  regarded  as  a  pure  de- 
pression of  the  voice  throughout. 


EVENING  EXERCISES.  65 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

EXERCISING   THE   VOICE   IMMEDIATELY   PREVIOUS  TO   RETIRING    TO   REST 

ITS   EFFECT   CONSIDERED. 

There  is  a  beneficial  influence  exerted  on  the  voice  of  a 
speaker  by  exercises  in  reading,  in  declamation,  or  in  vocal 
music,  immediately  previous  to  retiring  to  rest  at  night, 
which  will  be  clearly  realized  and  felt  in  delivering  a  speech 
or  argument  on  the  next  succeeding  day.  This  improve- 
ment communicated  to  the  organs  of  speech  by  an  exercise, 
which  is  succeeded  by  some  hours  of  repose  previous  to 
their  employment  in  executing  any  of  the  duties  of  life,  is 
similar  to  the  increased  vigor  and  elasticity  which  is  plainly 
experienced  in  the  limbs  in  jumping,  or  in  running  on  a  day 
immediately  succeeding  that  in  which  they  have  been  mod- 
erately but  vigorously  trained  by  exercises  of  a  similar  char- 
acter. A  practitioner  in  jumping  may  have  failed  in  repeat- 
ed efforts  to  jump  a  certain  number  of  feet  on  one  day, 
which  he  may  have  prescribed  as  a  maximum,  whilst  on  the 
next  day  he  may  bound  over  the  given  number  with  the 
nimbleness  of  the  antelope.  The  secret  of  this  fresh  access- 
ion of  activity  to  the  limbs  and  muscles  by  exercises  ap- 
plied in  this  particular  manner,  may  be  recognized  in  the 
fact,  that  the  fatigue  of  previous  exercise  will  be  entirely  re- 
moved, if  it  has  not  been  too  severe,  by  a  few  hours  of  suc- 
ceeding rest,  whilst  the  benefit  given  to  the  muscles  by  the 
force  of  tension,  has  been  fully  preserved. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  organs  of  speech.  They  will  have 
been  rendered  flexible  and  expansive,  for  the  exercise  of 
speaking  on  a  succeeding  day,  by  the  exercises  of  an.  imme- 
diately preceding  night,  which  are  followed  by  an  interval 
of  rest.     When  the  voice  shall  have  been  severely  trained 


66  EVENING  EXERCISES. 

in  declaiming  aloud,  or  in  vocal  music  conducted  on  a  very 
high  key,  only  a  few  moments  before  the  exercise  of  speak- 
ing commences,  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  speaker  may 
not  possess  that  control  over  his  vocal  functions  which  may 
be  essential  to  agreeable  and  effective  speaking.  For  the 
organs  of  speech  having  been  subjected  to  a  high  degree  of 
expansion  by  severe  exertion,  will  not  in  all  cases  yield  an 
agreeable  enunciation  immediately  after  the  force  or  press- 
ure of  this  exertion  shall  be  removed.  An  interval  of  an 
hour  or  two  between  the  preliminary  exercises  of  declamation 
or  singing,  and  an  argument,  will  in  most  instances  afford  the 
organs  of  speech  time  to  resume  their  equable  and  natural 
state,  under  the  influence  exerted  by  rest,  whilst  the  benefit  of 
the  exercise  will  be  recognized  in  the  increased  expansion  and 
flexibility  of  the  voice.  If  the  whole  or  the  greatest  part  of  a 
night  shall  intervene  between  such  exercises  and  the  speaking 
of  a  succeeding  day,  as  has  been  remarked  in  the  commence- 
ment of  this  chapter,  the  benefit  will  be  yet  greater. 

If  a  speaker  should  indulge  himself  in  an  effort  to  improve 
his  voice  for  speaking,  immediately  before  the  duty  is  com- 
menced, he  should  either  sing  a  few  verses  or  read  a  few  pages 
in  some  well-selected  speech,  on  the  natural  or  middle  key  of 
his  voice,  unless  the  voice  should  be  so  contracted  at  the  trial, 
or  should  betray  such  an  obstinate  degree  of  hoarseness  as 
to  require  an  exercise  in  declamation  or  in  vocal  music  on 
its  highest  key,  in  order  to  give  it  expansion  or  to  remove 
its  hoarseness.  When  this  exercise  shall  have  been  closed, 
too,  after  about  fifteen  minutes  shall  have  elapsed,  the  speak- 
er or  pupil  should  sing  a  few  verses  of  a  hymn  or  song, 
on  the  natural  or  middle  key  of  his  voice,  or  should  read  a 
few  pages  from  a  speech,  with  remarkably  brief  sentences, 
on  the  same  key.  This  exercise  will  secure  the  natural  key 
in  speaking. 


MISCELLANEOUS  KEFLECTIONS.  67 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

MISCELLANEOUS   EEFLECTIONS   ON   THE   TONES   OF   THE   VOICE. 

The  softer  sounds  of  the  human  voice  are  acquired  by 
practicing  it  in  speaking  or  reading  low  on  the  middle  or  con- 
versational key ;  for  habitually  reading  or  speaking  loudly 
disqualifies  the  organs  of  speech  for  executing  soft  tones 
with  facility — just  as  the  constant  practice  of  walking 
rapidly  renders  one  less  at  ease  in  walking  at  a  very 
slow  pace,  and  as  the  constant  practice,  also,  of  stamping 
heavily  in  the  act  of  walking,  renders  one  less  able  to  walk 
or  creep  with  a  feline  lightness  of  tread  when  he  wishes  to 
do  so. 

But  notwithstanding  the  habitual  practice  of  loud  reading 
and  speaking  renders  it  difficult  for~a  speaker  to  execute  "the 
softer  tones  in  speaking  when  he  wishes  to  do  so ;  and,  al- 
though for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  that  ease,  it  is  necessary 
to  practice  the  voice  in  reading  and  speaking  lowly  on  the 
middle  or  natural  key,  yet  the  voice  is  greatly  assisted  in  its 
efforts  to  acquire  the  softer  tones,  by  being  frequently  sub- 
jected to  exercises  on  the  more  elevated  keys  of  the  voice. 
This  latter  exercise,  when  it  is  not  carried  to  an  extreme,  as 
has  been  frequently  affirmed  in  the  course  of  these  commen- 
taries, expands  and  deepens  the  voice  and  renders  it  more 
flexible,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  fits  it  in  a  much  higher 
degree  for  the  process  of  modulation — just  as  the  leather 
which  enters  into  the  composition  of  a  shoe,  though  stiff  at 
first,  becomes  flexible  and  soft  by  constantly  subjecting  the 
leather  to  the  pressure  of  the  foot. 

If  the  voice  is  contracted  and  superficial  in  its  character,  it 
will  be  utterly  incompetent  to  execute  in  perfection  the  softer 
tones ;  and  it  is  the  expansion  and  depth,  as  well  as  the  addi- 


68  THE 'natural  key,  its  benefits. 

tional  flexibility  which  is  imparted  to  it  by  exercises  on  a 
high  key,  which  increases  its  capacity  for  uttering  the  deeper 
tones.  But  it  is  not  immediately  subsequent  to  exercising 
the  voice  on  a  key  of  great  elevation  that  the  benefit  of  this 
exercise  will  be  experienced  in  producing  the  softer  tones. 
It  will  be  after  an  interval  of  rest,  comprehending  some  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes,  and  then  special  care  must  be  taken  to 
pitch  the  voice  on  the  natural  or  middle  key. 

If  the  voice  of  a  speaker  should  be  feeble  and  effeminate, 
and  will  yield  none  other  than  treble  notes,  and  those  of  an 
insufferable  and  screeching  nature,  he  may  succeed  in  recti- 
fying its  tones,  and  in  imparting  to  it  a  more  masculine 
character,  by  declaiming,  singing,  and  hallooing  with  the 
utmost  strength  of  his  voice,  whenever  an  opportimity  shall 
be  presented  for  indulging  in  those  disciplinary  exercises. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THE  ESSENTIAL  IMPORTANCE  OF  CONFINING  THE  VOICE,  IN  THE  ACT  OF 
SPEAKING,  TO  THE  NATURAL  KEY — AND  IN  WHAT  THE  ADVANTAGE  OF 
THIS   COURSE   CONSISTS. 

The  high  importance  and  precious  advantage  which  results 
from  confining  the  voice,  through  life,  in  the  practice  of 
speaking  or  reading,  to  the  natural  key,  consists  in  this — 
that  whilst  the  voice  confined  to  this  pitch  or  key  reaps  the 
full  benefit,  as  it  regards  volume  of  sound,  depth  of  tone, 
and  sweetness  of  intonation,  which  may  be  conferred  on  it 
by  the  various  other  modes  of  discipline  to  which  it  may  be 
subjected  ;  it  may,  at  the  same  time,  be  truthfully  affirmed 
that  there  is  no  other  pitch  of  the  voice  on  which  each  indi- 
vidual speaker  can  reach  the  highest  and  fullest  measure  of 


THE  KATUKAL  KEY,   ITS  BENEFITS.  69 

success  which  his  capacity  and  resources  may  fit  him  for  at- 
taining. 

There'  is  no  other  pitch  of  the  human  voice  on  which  a 
speaker  may  be  able  to  command  and  maintain  that  happy 
level  in  speaking  which  may  be  termed  the  conversational 
style — which  is  the  most  acceptable  and  engaging  of  all  oth- 
ers to  those  whom  it  may  be  his  duty  to  address.  There  is 
no  other  key  of,  the  voice  in  speaking,  on  which  the  speaker, 
during  the  progress  of  an  argument,  speech,  or  address  of 
any  kind,  will  be  perfectly  competent  to  let  his  voice  rise  or 
descend  at  pleasure,  as  the  exigencies  of  the  case  may  require. 
It  is  the  only  key  in  speaking  on  which  the  speaker  may  pause 
when  he  pleases,  and  resume  the  thread  of  his  argument 
again  with  an  appropriate  share  of  facility  and  grace.  It  is 
the  only  key  of  the  voice  on  which  the  speaker  may  conduct 
an  argument  with  due  deliberation.  And  it  may  also  be  al- 
leged with  perfect  fidelity  to  truth,  that  it  is  the  only  pitch 
of  the  voice  in  speaking  on  which  the  speaker  may  descend 
with  perfect  ease  into  the  most  minute  particulars  of  an  ar- 
gument, narrative,  or  subject  of  any  description,  and  press 
into  the  service  of  his  cause  or  proposition  the  smallest  par- 
ticles of  reasoning  which  may  be  qualified  to  assist  in  ac- 
complishing the  object  which  he  may  have  in  view.  And 
the  reason  why  a  speaker  may  descend  into  minute  particulars 
with  greater  ease  on  this  key  of  the  voice  than  on  any  other,  is, 
that  whilst  he  is  engaged  in  speaking  on  this  key  he  is  at  per- 
fect ease,  and  he  will  be  at  perfect  ease  during  the  continuance 
of  a  very  protracted  argument,  if  he  may  be  perfect  master 
of  the  subject  discussed.  And  it  may  be  safely  stated 
that  when  speaking  on  a  key  above  the  natural  level  of  his 
voice,  the  voice  being  under  the  pressure  of  a  straining  ex- 
ertion during  the  whole  course  of  an  argument,  the  speaker 
will  be  actuated  by  an  impatient  spirit  from  the  irksome 
character  of  the  process  of  speaking  on  a  key  of  too  great 
elevation ;  and  from  a  feeling  of  repugnance  to  the  labor  in- 


liJ,^liilli! il  i,l|lii|piillli|i 


70  THE  NATURAL   KEY,   ITS  BENEFITS. 

volved  in  the  undertaking,  he  will  omit  the  minute  partieu- 
lars,  facts,  and  data  pertaining  tQ  his  cause  or  proposition ; 
and  will  confine  himself  almost  exclusively  to  the  boldest 
and.  most  prominent  points,  which  will  not  be  presented  with 
any  peculiar  degree  of  felicity. 

In  connection  with  this  branch  of  the  subject,  it  may  be 
very  appropriately  suggested  to  the  pupil,  that  the  natural 
key  of  the  human  voice  is  the  only  point  of  elevation  in 
speaking  at  which  the  speaker  may  be  able  to  acquire  and 
command  the  graces  of  action,  and  reduce  them  to  practice 
whenever  he  participates  in  the  labors  of  a  discussion,  deliv- 
ers an  address,  or  indulges  in  the  exercise  of  reading.  For 
the  purpose  of  testing  the  justness  of  this  proposition,  the 
pupil  may  declaim  a  speech  which  has  been  committed  to 
memory,  read  an  address,  or  a  chapter  in  any  book,  and 
practise  gesticulation  in  conjunction  with  either  of  these  ex- 
ercises, and  he  may  perceive  with  perfect  clearness  the  im- 
perfect nature  of  his  gestures,  on  every  pitch  of  the  voice  he 
may  strike  or  select,  except  the  natural  one.  And  this  key 
of  the  voice  proves  itself  to  be  the  proper  one,  because  ges- 
ticulation is  conducted  with  perfect  ease  whenever  the  pupil 
may  be  able  to  command  that  particular  key,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  reading  or  speaking  ;  and  because  in  addition  to  this, 
the  gestures  are  certain  to  become  difficult,  irregular,  and 
broken,  whenever  he  deserts  this  pitch  of  the  voice,  for  any 
other  on  which  it  may  be  exerted,  in  the  article  of  speak- 
ing- 

This  inability  of  a  speaker  to  move  his  hands  with  perfect 
freedom  and  facility,  results  from  the  fact  that  those  functions 
of  the  body,  the  exertion  of  which  produces  the  voice,  do  not 
at  the  moment  of  speaking  act  and  move  with  perfect  ease 
and  freedom  themselves.  Speech  or  sound  is  produced  by 
the  motion  or  action  of  certain  organs  or  parts  of  the  body, 
as  much  as  gesticulation  is  produced  by  the  action  of  certain 
members  of  the  body  called  the  hands.     The  organs  of 


THE  NATUBAL  KEY,   ITS  BENEFITS.  71 

speech  have  not  extension,  like  the  hands,  and  their  action  is 
not  perceptible,  like  that  of  the  hands,  to  the  organ  of  vision. 
But  yet  they  are  moved  at  the  will  of  the  possessor,  by  put- 
ting them  in  motion,  just  as  the  hands  are  moved  at  the  will 
of  their  possessor  by  a  certain  amount  of  exertion.  But  if 
the  organs  of  speech,  when  speech  is  intended  to  be  produced, 
are  not  in  a  condition  to  act  with  perfect  flexibility,  the  hands 
will  act  in  sympathy  with  these  organs,  and  will  fail  to  move 
with  flexibility  of  sweep  when  they  are  put  in  motion  by  the 
will,  to  produce  gesticulation.  Or  if  the  speaker,  when  he 
commences  the  business  of  speaking,  should  bring  to  bear 
upon  the  organs  of  speech,  too  large  an  amount  of  pressure 
to  admit  of  their  executing  their  functions  with  ease,  then 
the  hands  will  also  refuse  to  execute  their  functions  in  mo- 
tion with  a  graceful  measure  of  ease.  Just  as  the  voice,  no 
matter  how  tuneful  and  flexible  it  might  be  at  the  time,  would 
certainly  yield  a  broken  current  or  measure  of  sound,  if  the 
speaker,  in  delivering  a  speech,  or  a  sentence  in  a  speech^ 
should,  when  attempting  to  raise  his  hand  to  make  a  gesture 
at  any  giving  point,  find  it  bound  to  his  side,  or  encumbered 
by  an  amount  of  weight  which  would  prevent  him  from 
moving  it  at  all,  or  which  would  prevent  him  from  moving 
it  backward  and  forward,  or  upward  and  downward,  \vithout 
the  application  of  considerable  exertion. 

The  operation  of  the  foregoing  principle  will  be  clearly 
detected  in  machinery  of  any  description,  in  which,  if  an 
undue  amount  of  pressure  is  brought  to  bear  upon  any  one 
spring  in  a  machine,  or  an  undue  amount  of  weight  is  sud- 
denly attached  to  any  one  of  its  balances,  the  regularity  of 
motion  in  every  other  part  of  the  machine  will  be  disturbed 
and  deranged,  until  the  pressure  is  diminished,  or  the  undue 
weight  removed. 

The  foregoing  sympathy  which  has  been  affirmed  to  exist 
between  the  voice  and  the  hands,  in  the  matter  of  speaking, 
may  be  illustrated  by  a  reference  to  various  other  examples 


72  THE  NATUEAL   KEY,   ITS  BENEFITS. 

Let  US  assume,  for  instance,  the  case  of  persons  who  have  been 
instructed  in  the  accomplishment  of  dancing.  Many  persons 
familiar  witb  this  agreeable  and  sprightly  exercise,  sometimes 
choose  to  indulge  in  the  recreation  of  dancing  after  their  own 
music.  Now,  if  a  person  acquainted  with  the  art  of  dancing 
should  commence  singing  some  lively  tune  on  that  pitch  of 
the  voice  which  would  render  the  exercise  perfectly  easy  to 
the  performer,  and  he  should  simultaneously  commence  the 
dancing  of  some  step,  the  motions  in  dancing  will  be  con- 
ducted with  the  most  perfect  nimbleness  and  ease,  as  long 
as  the  voice  shall  be  preserved  on  that  key  in  singing,  which 
will  continue  the  functions  of  song  at  perfect  ease.  But  let 
the  dancer  suddenly  pitch  his  voice,  in  singing  the  same  tune 
he  commenced  with,  on  a  more  elevated  key  of  the  voice 
than  the  natural  one,  and  the  motions  of  the  feet  in  dancing 
will  simultaneously  become  rugged,  irregular,  and  labori- 
ous. 

As  further  illustrations  of  the  operation  of  the  principle  of 
sympathy,  which  exists  between  the  action  of  the  voice  and 
the  hands  in  the  exercise  of  speaking,  we  may  refer  to  the 
grace  and  flexibility  of  motion  with  which  almost  every  per- 
son engaged  in  a  cotilion,  or  dance  of  any  description,  at  the 
same  time  almost  involuntarily  moves,  whilst  the  spirits 
and  limbs  of  the  dancers  are  propelled  by  a  tune  pitched  on 
the  right  key,  and  played  to  the  proper  measure  and  time. 
Let  the  same  or  another  tune  be  suddenly  pitched  on  a 
wrong  key,  and  played  to  a  defective  time  and  measure,  and 
the  movements  of  the  same  party  of  dancers  suddenly  be- 
comes spiritless,  cumbrous,  and  laborious. 

Let  an  accurate  performer  on  the  violin  or  flute,  consult 
his  past  experience  in  matters  of  music,  and  he  will  vividly 
recollect  how  nimbly  his  fingers  have  at  times  covered  the 
holes  in  the  flute,  and  with  what  incalculable  facility  they 
have  touched  the  strings  of  a  violin,  when  these  instruments 
have  been  tuned  to  the  proper  key  for  playmg  those  tunes, 


ITS   BENEFITS.  73 

which  he  chose  to  play  at  the  given  time.  He  will  also  re- 
member at  other  trials,  how  heavily  and  irregularly  his  fin- 
gers fell  on  the  holes  of  the  flute  or  the  strings  of  the  violin, 
when  either  of  these  instruments  were  pitched  on  a  wrong 
key  for  playing  any  required  tune. 

Those  who  have  observed  the  exercise  of  speaking  amidst 
the  discussions  of  the  bar,  of  deliberative  assemblies  and 
popular  meetings,  will  not  fail  to  remember  speakers 
whose  gestures  were  exceedingly  irregular  and  broken,  and 
who  frequently  in  gesticulation  extended  beyond  the  person 
only  that  portion  of  the  arm  which  is  comprehended  be- 
tween the  elbow  and  the  extremities  of  the  fingers,  the  elbow 
itself  appearing  at  the  same  time  to  be  pinioned  to  the  side. 
They  will  recollect  at  other  times  speakers  who  seemed  to 
labor  so  much  in  speaking,  that  there  seemed  to  be  a 
threatening  prospect  of  their  falling  on  their  faces.  All  these 
labors  and  all  these  imperfections  were  the  product  of  the 
voice  being  pitched  on  a  wrong  key  at  the  commencement 
of  the  exercise  of  speaking. 

It  is  very  true  that  the  voice  may  be  in  a  condition  at 
times,  owing  to  the  effect  of  hoarseness  produced  by  a  cold 
or  extreme  exertion,  or  relaxation  produced  by  excessive 
labor  in  speaking,  or  contraction  produced  by  various  causes, 
to  bid  defiance  to  any  previous  precautions  of  the  speaker  to 
pitch  the  voice  on  a  proper  key.  This  chapter  has  not  been 
written  for  the  purpose  of  providing  for  defects  which  are 
positively  invincible,  but  for  the  removal  and  alleviation  of 
imperfections  which  are  clearly  within  the  reach  of  human 
skill.  But  it  is  certain  that  if  a  speaker  should  have  pre- 
viously paid  a  sufficient  share  of  attention  to  the  voice  to 
ascertain  its  properties  and  wants,  that  he  can  almost  as- 
sure himself  of  the  certainty  of  previously  providing  for  the 
embarrassments  to  speaking  just  pointed  out,  by  reading,  by 
declamation,  or  by  vocal  music  indulged  in  to  some  extent 
on  the  natural  key  of  the  voice  in  some  retired  place,  an 

4 


74  A  kj:y  which  is  too  low. 

hour  or  two  before  he  may  be  summoned  by  his  duties. 
In  cases  of  hoarseness,  unaccompanied  by  cold,  the  same 
remedy  will  be  serviceable. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

DOES  IT  EVEa  HAPPEN  IN  THE  EXERCISE  OF  SPEAKING  AND  SINGING,  THAT 
THE  HUMAN  VOICE  IS  PITCHED  ON  A  KEY  TOO  LOW  TO  ADMIT  OF  EAST 
AND   EFFECTIVE  SPEAKING  ? 

Much  has  been  said  in  the  previous  numbers  on  the  sub- 
ject of  pitching  the  voice  on  a  high  key  in  the  exercise  of 
music,  both  in  the  nature  of  a  preliminary  training,  to  give 
compass  and  depth  of  tone  to  the  voice,  and  to  correct  its 
various  defects.  And  many  suggestions  have  also  been 
made  heretofore  in  regard  to  numerous  difficulties  and  dis- 
advantages which  result  in  the  exercise  of  speaking,  from  the 
fact  of  placing  the  voice  whilst  thus  engaged  on  a  key  of  too 
much  elevation.  Now  the  question  recurs,  does  the  human 
voice  ever  fall  in  speaking  or  in  singing  upon  a  key  too  low 
to  admit  of  easy  and  melodious  sound  in  speech  and  in  song? 

There  is  nothing  more  certain  than  that  the  voice  does  fre- 
quently fall  upon  a  key  in  both  these  exercises,  which  the 
speaker  or  singer  will  discover  as  he  progresses  in  either  (as 
the  case  may  be)  to  be  entirely  too  low  to  be  consistent  with 
his  own  ease,  or  to  be  productive  of  full  and  melodious  sounds. 
The  speaker  or  pupil  can  easily  determine  on  the  certainty 
of  this  occurrence  himself,  by  adopting  an  experiment  which 
is  very  simple  in  its  nature.  Let  him  take  up  a  speech  or 
chapter  in  a  book,  and  purposely  select  a  low  or  bass  key 
for  his  voice  in  the  exercise  which  he  chooses  at  the  time, 
and  he  will  find  after  he  advances  a  little  way,  that  the  sound 
of  his  voice  will  be  deficient  in  melody  and  fulness,  that  ges- 


A  KEY  WHICH  IS  TOO   LOW.  75 

ticulation  will  be  difficult  and  imperfect,  and  that  he  cannot 
yield  the  proper  emphasis  to  the  words  and  sentences  which 
are  embraced  in  the  speech  or  chapter  he  may  be  reading  or 
declaiming  at  the  time.  The  same  remarks  are  strictly  true 
in  relation  to  vocal  music.  If  the  voice  should  be  pitched  on 
too  low  a  key,  by  a  leader  in  church-music,  the  music  will 
be  drawling  and  monotonous,  and  entirely  destitute  of  ani- 
mation, and  the  leader  will  frequently  be  compelled  to  pause 
and  commence  the  music  on  a  key  of  greater  elevation. 

This  difficulty  of  pitching  the  voice  on  a  lower  key  than 
the  natural  one  in  speaking  and  in  music,  is  entirely  different 
from  the  voluntary  determination  of  the  speaker  or  singer 
to  exercise  himself  in  speaking  or  singing  low  on  the  natural 
and  easy  key  of  the  voice.  For  there  is  no  exercise  which 
in  its  proper  place  is  more  beneficial  to  the  voice  in  pro- 
ducing softness,  flexibility,  and  facility  of  modulation,  than 
the  one  last  mentioned,  and  it  is  advisable  to  indulge  in 
this  practice  daily,  as  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  the  other 
exercises  which  are  recommended  in  this  treatise  as  cor- 
rectives to  the  voice.  But  no  matter  how  the  speaker  or 
singer  may  read,  speak,  or  sing  on  that  key  which,  for  the 
sake  of  simplicity,  may  be  denominated  the  natural  pitch  of 
the  voice,  he  will  uniformly  find  that  the  restricted  volume 
of  the  sound  does  not  prevent  the  voice  from  yielding  a 
quiet  melody,  or  from  giving  each  note  and  sentence  in 
either  exercise  an  easy,  full,  and  perfect  sound  or  intona- 
tion. 

In  regard  to  the  corrective  which  ought  to  be  applied  to 
this  embarrassment,  when  it  occurs,  a  brief  chapter  will  be 
hereafter  especially  devoted  to  that  subject.  But  it  may  be 
suggested  in  this  connection,  that  if  the  speaker  should  find 
in  the  course  of  delivering  a  speech  at  the  bar  or  elsewhere, 
that  his  voice  is  pitched  on  a  key  too  low  for  easy  and  tune- 
ful speaking,  the  most  eligible  mode  by  which  to  remove  the 
difficulty,  is  to  pause  until  he  shall  have  time  to  breathe  and 


^^ 


T6  PEEVENTION  OF  A  WRONG  KEY. 


collect  himself,  without  taking  his  seat,  and  to  fix  in  his 
mind  a  higher  key  when  he  resumes.  We  have  known  this 
difficulty  frequently  corrected  in  the  discussions  of  the  bar, 
by  reading  at  length  when  the  pause  is  made,  some  author 
applicable  to  the  subject,  and  by  then  resimiing  it. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

THE  PRELIMINAEY  EXERCISES  WHICH  MAY  PREVENT  THE  EMBARRASSMENTS 
WHICH  RESULT  FROM  PITCHING  THE  VOICE  ON  AN  INCORRECT  KEY  IN 
SPEAKING. 

The  most  effective  discipline  to  which  a  public  speaker  or 
a  pupil  in  the  art  of  speaking  can  possibly  resort,  to  place 
the  voice  in  tune  for  easy,  flexible,  and  acceptable  enuncia- 
tion, is  to  select  some  favorite  hymn  or  song  with  which  he 
may  be  perfectly  familiar,  and  sing  it  on  such  a  pitch  as  will 
allow  the  pupil  to  yield  a  full,  swelling,  and  musical  sound 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  selected  piece  of  music, 
without  extraordinary  labor  or  difficulty  to  the  person  prac- 
tising. And  let  him  repeat  the  same  hymn  or  song,  or  sing 
another  which  he  may  execute  with  equal  facility,  until  the 
voice  shall  have  received  from  the  exercise  a  proper  degree 
of  expansion.  And  this  the  person  practising  in  this  man- 
ner will  be  enabled  easily  to  perceive  by  his  own  feelings, 
and  by  the  degree  of  flexibility  and  ease  with  which  the 
voice  executes,  its  functions  in  singing. 

After  the  speaker  has  continued  the  exercise  of  vocal 
music  to  a  sufficient  extent  as  just  prescribed,  then  let  him 
pause  for  the  space  of  five  or  ten  minutes,  or  for  a  sufficient 
space  of  time  to  afford  the  vocal  organs  a  little  respite  from 
the  previous  exercise  of  singing,  or  to  enable  the  ear  to  de- 


PREVENTION  OF  A  WRONG  KEY.  77 

termine  with  accuracy  the  measure  of  sound  to  be  used  m 
speaking  or  reading.  Then  let  him  declaim  from  memory 
a  committed  speech,  if  he  should  be  prepared  to  do  so,  on  that 
key  of  the  voice  which  will  admit  of  his  speaking  the  speech 
throughout  in  a  natural  and  easy  manner,  and  which  will 
also  admit  of  his  giving  the  proper  emphasis  to  each  sen- 
tence and  word  in  the  speech.  And  let  him  continue  this 
exercise  of  declaiming  the  speech  in  question  until  he  shall 
have  assured  for  his  voice  that  set  or  proper  level  on  which 
he  wishes  to  speak  in  whatever  exercise  may  await  him. 

After  having  finished  the  exercise  of  vocal  music  as  here- 
tofore prescribed,  if  the  pupil  or  speaker  has  no  committed 
speech,  or  he  should  not  choose  for  any  reason  to  exercise 
himself  in  that  particular  mode,  let  him  read  four,  five,  or 
ten  pages  of  some  easy  and  agreeable  speech,  in  which  the 
sentences  may  not  be  remarkable  for  their  length.  If  he 
should  not  have  a  speech  at  command,  let  him  read  as  many 
pages  in  some  author  which  may  be  convenient  as  the  exi- 
gencies of  his  voice  may  require  at  the  time.  And  he  can 
ascertain  with  some  degree  of  certainty  when  he  has  de- 
claimed or  read  enough,  by  the  fact  of  finding  his  voice  in  a 
condition  which  will  permit  him  to  let  it  rise  or  fall  at  his 
pleasure,  to  sound  the  words  with  clearness  and  with  some 
degree  of  melody  and  flexibility,  and  to  allow  him  to  give 
the  proper  emphasis  to  the  words  which  occur  in  the  speech 
or  author. 

The  exercise  specified  in  the  preceding  portions  of  this 
chapter  will  generally  assure  for  the  voice  a  proper  degree 
of  fulness,  and  also  the  necessary  power  of  modulation  in 
any  exercise  of  speaking  which  is  to  follow  in  the  course  of 
the  same  day. 

But  if  when  the  speaker  or  pupil  in  commencing  the  ex- 
ercises heretofore  pointed  out,  should  find  his  voice  in  a  con- 
dition of  too  much  rigidity  and  contraction  to  be  corrected 
by  the  mild  exertion  of  singing  on  the  natural  key  of  the 


tS  THE  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  MUSIC. 

voice,  then  having  first  pitched  his  voice  on  the  highest  key 
which  will  admit  of  his  yielding  a  full  and  swelling  sound  to 
each  note  in  a  song  or  hymn,  let  him  indulge  himself  in 
singing  a  sufficient  number  of  verses  to  satisfy  him  that  he 
has  sufficiently  expanded  his  voice,  or  succeeded  in  correcting 
for  the  time  the  impediment  to  flexible  sounds  under  which 
it  temporarily  labors.  Then  after  having  paused  for  some 
five  or  ten  minutes,  let  him  adopt  the  exercises  in  singing 
and  in  reading  before  described  in  this  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  MODE  BY  WHICH   A  PUPIL   IS  TO   (X)RRECT  THE  lUPEBFEOTIONS   OF  HIS 
VOICE   WHO   POSSESSES   NO   EAR   FOR   MUSIC   OR   SENSE   OF   TUNE. 

It  frequently  happens  that  persons  with  the  highest  capacity 
and  most  refined  and  correct  taste  on  general  subjects,  and 
who  are  also  adorned  by  the  richest  and  most  varied  mental 
culture,  are  yet  entirely  destitute  of  the  perception  of  tune, 
or  what  is  more  usually  designated  an  ear  for  music.  The 
question  here  presented  is,  how  are  persons  of  this  descrip- 
tion to  improve  the  voice  for  public  speaking  and  to  correct 
its  imperfections  1 

This  question  may  be  answered  by  the  affirmation  that 
such  persons  have  at  their  command  the  whole  volume  of 
sound,  and  the  broad  field  of  reading  and  declamation,  in 
which  to  give  full  and  profitable  exercise  to  their  vocal  func- 
tions. And  let  it  be  remarked,  in  this  connection,  in  the 
first  place,  that  there  is  no  exercise  known  to  man,  the  daily 
adoption  of  which  yields  a  larger  amount  of  expansion  to  the 
voice,  than  the  practice  of  declamation  on  the  most  elevated 
key  which  will  admit  of  a  full  and  perfect  sound  being  given 
to  each  word  in  the  speech  which  may  be  read  or  spoken  in 


THE   SUBSTITUTE   FOR  MUSIC.  79 

this  way.  Nor  is  there  any  other  exercise,  the  daily  use  of 
which  more  greatly  improves  the  voice  in  depth  of  tone  and 
in  increase  of  melody. 

In  order  to  avail  himself  of  the  foregoing  exercise  to  the 
greatest  advantage,  a  student,  if  he  resides  in  a  town  or  city, 
should  resort  to  some  retired  place  without  the  limits  of  a 
city,  with  his  speech  in  his  memory,  or  his  book  of  speeches 
in  his  pocket,  and  at  the  appointed  spot,  after  having  first 
secured  for  his  voice  a  pitch  on  which  it  will  sound  melodi- 
ously, let  him  declaim  a  committed  speech,  or  such  portion 
of  it  as  he  may  be  competent  to  declaim  without  injury  to 
his  lungs  or  throat,  at  the  very  loftiest  pitch  of  his  voice.  In 
the  early  stages  of  this  exercise,  a  single  page  of  a  committed 
speech  will  constitute  a  sufficient  daily  exercise  for  his  voice, 
and  he  should,  at  the  commencement  of  this  exercise, 
content  himself  with  the  performance  of  it  once  in  each 
day.  When  the  voice  has  become  in  some  degree  inured  to 
the  exercise,  he  may  increase  the  number  of  times  at  which 
it  is  repeated,  should  he  choose  to  do  so. 

And  it  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  inasmuch  as  the  fre- 
quent speaking  of  one  speech  accustoms  the  voice  to  that 
particular  production,  and  renders  it  much  easier  to  speak 
than  one  which  the  pupil  has  not  repeated  over  a  number  of 
times  in  speaking,  it  will  be  well  for  him  to  retain  one  speech 
for  an  exercise  so  straining  as  that  of  declamation  upon  an 
elevated  key  of  the  voice,  for  some  time  after  he  may  have 
commenced  this  exercise.  A  portion  of  any  one  speech  will 
answer  for  this  exercise,  until  the  end  of  the  pupil's  life,  as 
well  as  any  number  of  speeches ;  for  the  object  sought  in 
this  exercise  is  not  improvement  in  accentuating  and  empha- 
sizing the  language  contained  in  the  speech,  but  to  improve 
the  compass  and  musical  qualities  of  the  voice.  And  as  any 
one  speech  is  rendered  easier  to  speak  again  every  time  it  is 
enunciated  on  a  high  key  or  on  any  other,  it  is  suggested,  for 
the  comfort  of  the  pupil  himself,  to  select  and  retain  a  portion 


80  THE  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  MUSIC. 

of  some  one  speech,  as  a  daily  formula  for  the  practice  of 
this  exercise. 

After  the  pupil  shall  have  subjected  his  voice  to  the  pro- 
cess of  training  which  is  comprehended  in  the  exercises  of 
declamation,  as  has  been  just  advised,  let  him  return  to  his 
chamber  and  read  some  speech,  or  a  portion  of  some  chapter 
in  a  book  which  he  may  select  for  the  purpose,  on  the  natural 
or  easy  key  of  his  voice.  And  if  he  should  strike  this  key 
in  reading,  which  he  certainly  may  if  he  makes  persevering 
efforts,  he  will  discover  with  what  a  large  increase  of  facility 
he  can  read,  after  having  placed  the  voice  under  the  severe 
discipline  of  declaiming  on  a  key  of  unusual  elevation. 

But  if  the  pupil  should  for  any  reason  prefer  not  to  indulge 
in  this  exercise,  by  daily  declaiming  a  speech  which  has  been 
already  committed  to  memory,  he  may  perhaps,  without  the 
loss  of  any  very  important  advantage,  adopt  as  his  daily 
exercise  the  reading  of  some  page  or  two  in  any  speech  which 
he  may  select  for  the  purpose ;  for  a  person  may  read  on 
the  most  elevated  key  of  the  voice,  as  well  as  declaim  and 
sing  on  that,  though  not  perhaps  with  an  equal  degree  of  ease. 
He  should  select  for  this  purpose,  too,  some  speech  which 
contains  very  short  sentences,  for  the  longer  the  sentences  in 
a  speech  or  production  of  any  kind  may  be,  the  more  difficult 
it  will  prove  to  read  or  to  declaim  that  speech.  This  exer- 
cise of  reading  on  an  elevated  key  of  the  voice  should  be 
succeeded,  when  the  pupil  or  speaker  returns  to  his  chamber, 
by  the  exercise  of  reading  at  length,  and  that  on  the  natural 
and  easy  pitch  of  his  voice,  some  speech  or  chapter,  in  order 
to  accustom  and  discipline  his  voice  habitually  to  that  par- 
ticular key. 


A  DEFICIENCY  IN  TUNE.  81 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE  MODE  BY  WHICH  A  PUPIL  WHO  POSSESSES  NO  RECOGNITION  OF  TUNE 
IS  TO  ASCERTAIN  WHEN  HIS  VOICE  IS  PITCHED  ON  A  WRONG  KEY  IN 
THE  PROCESS   OF  SPEAKING. 

It  is  not  in  accordance  with  nature,  or  with  the  deductions 
of  daily  observation,  to  expect  that  a  person  entirely  destitute 
of  the  perception  of  tune,  will  frequently  indulge  in  the  prac- 
tice of  song.  But  the  want  of  a  proper  ear  for  music  or 
tune  is  not  by  any  means  inconsistent  with  a  just  taste  for 
music.  For  it  is  an  event  of  almost  daily  occurrence  to  ob- 
serve persons  who  are  not  able  to  distinguish  one  tune  from 
another,  who  are  just  as  accessible  to  the  delightful  influences 
flowing  from  agreeable  tunes,  as  the  most  accomplished  pro- 
ficients in  the  science  of  music ;  and  who  appear  also  to  be 
equally  as  sensitive  and  as  much  revolted  by  indifferent 
music  and  discordant  sounds,  as  those  who  have  the  organs 
of  tune  developed  in  the  highest  degree  of  perfection. 

In  addition  to  these  observations,  it  may  perhaps  be  very 
justly  and  truthfully  remarked,  that  it  is  highly  probable 
that  many  of  the  most  finished  masters  of  the  accomplish- 
ment of  eloqilence,  who  have  engaged  the  admiration  of  the 
world,  were  defective  in  the  perception  of  tune. 

If  persons  in  this  condition  have  a  clear  perceptiofi  of  sweet 
soimds,  and  a  just  appreciation  of  such  sounds,  though  des- 
titute of  a  discriminating  ear  in  relation  to  different  tunes, 
they  may  be  perfectly  competent  to  the  task  of  discerning 
when  agreeable  or  disagreeable  sounds  are  produced  by  their 
own  voices  in  speaking,  as  well  as  by  the  voices  of  others. 
And  if  they  possess  the  faculty  of  perceiving  and  annexing  a 
proper  appreciation  to  pleasant  and  unpleasant  sounds,  it 
must  follow  as  a  necessary  deduction  from  this  proposition, 

4* 


jfe:. 


82  A  DEFICIENCY  IN  TUNE. 

that  they  possess  the  power  of  correcting  and  of  changhig 
the  different  notes  of  the  voice,  as  they  from  time  to  time 
arise  to  the  observation  of  the  speaker. 

If  a  person  of  this  description  perceives  and  admires  an 
agreeable  intonation  in  his  own  voice  while  engaged  in  the 
exercise  of  declaiming  or  reading,  he  will  be  also  able  to  iden- 
tify such  sound,  and  repeat  it  again,  and  continue  to  repeat 
it  until  he  perpetuates  it  and  renders  it  a  permanent  possess- 
ion. The  same  person  too,  will  be  conscious  of  sweet  or 
engaging  intonations  in  the  voices  of  other  speakers,  and  by 
a  proper  degree  of  attention,  may  identify  such  agreeable 
sounds  or  intonations,  after  the  sound  has  passed  from  his 
ear,  and  by  repeated  efforts,  may  graft  the  power  of  pro- 
ducing similar  sounds  or  intonations  on  his  voice  in  the  exer- 
cise of  speaking. 

It  is  equally  certain  that  the  person  who  is  destitute  of  the 
faculty  of  discriminating  between  different  tunes,  is  equally 
competent  with  any  other  speaker  to  know  when  he  is  speak- 
ing with  a  distressing  amount  of  labor  and  fatigue  to  him- 
self. He  is  also  equally  capable  with  other  persons,  of 
knowing  when  he  is  reading  or  practicing  himself  in  the  ex. 
ercise  of  declamation  on  a  pitch  of  the  voice  which  renders 
the  voice  easy  and  flexible  in  performing  its  functions,  or  on 
one  which  entails  upon  him  an  irksome  amount  of  labor  and 
exertion. 

If,  then,  a  pupil  or  speaker  without  a  just  perception  of 
musical  relations  may  be  competent,  as  he  certainly  is,  to 
know  when  he  is  speaking  or  reading  with  ease  to  himself, 
it  is  not  a  strained  inference  to  affirm  that  he  can  exercise 
his  voice  in  declamation  and  in  reading  until  he  discovers 
that  key  on  which  he  can  speak  or  read  with  perfect  ease  to 
himself.  And  having  once  ascertained  such  key  of  the  voice, 
he  can  daily  engage  in  the  exercise  of  declaiming  and  read- 
ing on  that  particular  pitch  of  the  voice,  until  it  ripens  into 
a  permanent  and  settled  habit. 


A  DEFICIENCY  IN  TUNE.  83 

Speakers  who  are  destitute  of  the  organ  of  tune,  are 
usually  endowed  with  a  sense  of  hearing  as  acute  as  that  of 
the  most  skilful  votaries  of  musical  science ;  and  they  can 
ascertain  with  just  as  much  precision  as  persons  of  that  de- 
scription, what  measure  of  sound  is  essential  to  the  develop- 
ment and  improvement  of  the  voice  at  the  various  stages  of 
the  exercise  which  they  may  choose  to  adopt  for  their  dis- 
cipline. 

When  persons  in  this  condition  are  desirous  of  enlarging 
the  compass  of  the  voice,  they  may  retire  equally  as  well  as 
other  persons,  to  some  solitary  or  unfrequented  spot,  where 
they  may  indulge  at  pleasure  in  the  loftiest  flights  of  the 
human  voice,  in  hallooing,  or  in  declaiming  a  speech  of  any 
description,  or  in  giving  a  sound  of  peculiar  loudness  to  any 
particular  words,  which  may  be  qualified,  as  they  may  be- 
lieve, to  improve  the  voice. 

If,  also,  the  same  class  of  persons  should  be  desirous  of  im- 
proving the  voice  in  softness,  in  flexibility,  and  in  the  power 
of  modulation,  they  may  indulge  themselves  in  the  quiet 
repose  of  the  chamber  or  office,  in  reading  a  speech  or  author 
from  the  point  of  being  distinctly  audible  to  those  who  may 
be  moving  around  them,  down  to  reading  in  a  whisper,  which 
may  be  so  low  as  to  be  scarcely  heard  by  the  performer 
himself. 

From  the  foregoing  observations,  it  must  be  evident  to  a 
pupil  of  this  description,  that  with  the  exception  of  exercises 
in  vocal  music,  he  has  at  perfect  command  the  whole  cat- 
alogue of  appliances,  which  may  be  qualified  to  improve  the 
human  voice. 


-^^'.r 


84  REMEDT  FOR  A  WRONG  KEY. 


**>. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

"WHEN    A   8PEAKKE   DISCOVERS    IN    THE    PROGRESS    OF    8PEAKINO   THAT   HIS 

VOICE    IS    PITCHED     ON     AN     ERRONEOUS    OR    DIFFICULT     KEY THE    RB- 

MEOr. 

It  not  unfrequently  happens  in  the  practice  of  speaking, 
even  after  the  preparatory  precaution  has  been  adopted  of 
commencing  the  exercise  on  a  very  low  pitch  of  the  voice, 
that  the  speaker  having  extended  the  compass  of  his  voice  as 
he  becomes  warmed  by  the  subject,  will  discover  that  his 
voice  has  been  pitched  on  an  improper  key  to  admit  of  the 
requisite  ease  in  speaking.  It  has  been  placed  upon  a  key 
toe  low  or  one  of  too  great  elevation.  This  may  sometimes 
occur  even  if  the  speech  read  or  declaimed  shall  have  been  at 
first  commenced  on  a  pitch  of  the  voice  so  low  as  that  of  a 
whisper  scarcely  audible.  And  the  difficulty  of  adjustment 
in  regard  to  the  pitch  of  the  voice,  results  either  from  the 
want  of  previous  discipline  and  culture  to  this  faculty  to  ac- 
custom it  to  the  natural  pitch,  or  from  the  fact  of  its  not 
being  in  a  tuneable  condition  from  the  influence  of  some 
supervening  cause  or  impediment  of  temporary  duration. 

The  discipline  essential  to  the  prevention  of  difficulties  of 
this  description,  has  been  pointed  out  in  a  previous  chapter. 
The  present  object  is  to  secure  relief  from  the  pressure  of 
this  impediment  when  it  may  attest  its  presence  in  the 
course  of  delivering  a  s|>eech  or  in  reading  an  author.  And 
though  it  is  not  a  very  easy  matter  to  effect  this  object  at  all 
times  after  the  voice  has  taken  a  particular  set  or  direction 
in  speaking,  yet  it  is  nevertheless  frequently  accomplished. 

The  most  successful  mode  by  which  to  correct  the  voice 
when  its  improper  pitch  shall  be  detected  by  the  labor  and 
difficulty  of  speaking  after  the  exercise  has  commencjed,  is  to 


EEMEDY  FOR  A  WRONG  KEY.  85 

pause  a  few  moments  to  afford  the  organs  of  speech  a  very- 
brief  interval  of  rest,  and  in  resuming  the  subject  again  to 
strike  or  aim  for  a  different  pitch  of  the  voice,  a  higher  key 
if  the  previous  pitch  of  the  voice  was  too  low,  and  a  lower 
key  if  it  was  previously  too  elevated.  And  this  is  an  inter- 
val of  rest  which  the  speaker  must  snatch  from  the  exercise 
in  progress,  without  resuming  his  seat,  and  that  in  such  a 
way  as  will  not  create  the  impression  with  his  audience  that 
he  is  abont  to  relinquish  his  subject.  These  pauses  are  fre- 
quently indulged  in  by  many  speakers  without  reference  to 
the  state  of  the  voice  itself,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the 
speaker  to  survey  with  due  deliberation  the  ground  of  dis- 
cussion over  which  he  may  be  passing  at  the  time. 

In  the  impatience  of  the  moment  some  speakers  make  an 
effort  to  overcome  this  difficulty  by  suddenly  raising  the 
voice  to  an  unusual  point  of  vehemence,  and  getting  appa- 
rently into  a  terrible  fervor  of  passion.  But  the  most  effi- 
cient and  certain  of  all  modes  by  which  to  relieve  the  diffi- 
culties connected  with  speaking  on  a  wrong  key,  when  the 
impediment  shall  be  discovered  in  the  process  of  delivering 
a  speech,  if  the  subject  under  discussion  is  one  to  the  eluci- 
dation of  which  authorities  may  be  applicable,  is  to  take  up  a 
book  and  read  from  it  at  as  great  length  as  its  appropriate- 
ness to  the  subject  may  permit,  and  then  to  resume  the 
business  of  speaking  again.  We  have  frequently  known  the 
temporary  impediments  of  the  voice  in  speaking  to  be  cor- 
rected in  this  way  both  in  the  discussions  of  the  bar  and  of 
deliberative  assemblies. 

One  thing  is  certain  that  both  the*prevention  and  the  cor- 
rection of  this  embarrassing  impediment  justifies  the  expen- 
diture of  immense  care  and  attention,  for  it  produces  mono- 
tonous speaking  when  the  pitch  of  the  voice  is  too  low ; 
graceless  and  irregular  declamation  when  its  pitch  may  be  too 
high;  and  broken  and  imperfect  gesticulation  on. either  key. 


86  SPEAKING  EXCLUSIVELY  ON  ONE  KEY. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

AEE   ALL  THE   DIsaPLINAEY  EXERCISES  USELESSLY  EXPENDED  ON  THE  VOICE 
OF   A   rUPIL   IN   ELOCUTION,   WHO   SPEAKS   ON   ONE   KEY   ONLY? 

The  proposition  has  been  frequently  affirmed,  that  there 
are  persons  who  speak  exclusively  on  one  key  of  the  voice, 
and  there  are  many  conspicuous  examples  which  go  very  far 
to  establish  the  justness  of  the  proposition.  For  no  matter 
how  much  the  voices  of  some  persons  may  be  raised  in 
<5ompass  and  in  animation  by  the  fervor  excited  by  de- 
bate, yet  the  voice  uniformly  retains  its  flexibility,  power 
of  modulation,  and  beauty  of  intonation,  and  when  at  its 
ordinary  level,  the  voice  of  this  class  of  speakers  presents 
an  uniformity  of  sound  which  identifies  the  key  on  which 
they  uniformly  speak  as  a  single  one.  In  other  speakers 
who  appear  to  speak  on  one  key  of  the  voice  exclusively,  the 
intonation  produced  by  the  exertion  of  the  voice  in  speaking, 
may  be  very  indifferent  in  its  quality — ^it  may  be  a  very 
hoarse  or  very  sharp  and  screeching  sound,  but  the  sound 
is  sufficiently  uniform  to  produce  the  impression  that  persons 
of  this  description  are  confined  in  the  exercise  of  speaking  to 
one  key. 

But  the  important  question  to  settle  in  this  number,  is 
whether  persons  who  speak  on  one  key  alone,  if  there  be 
such  persons,  may  be  benefited  by  the  exercises  prescribed  in 
this  treatise.  The  voice  is  similar  in  this  respect  to  the 
mind  or  the  body,  where  any  particular  function  is  capable  of 
being  almost  indefinitely  improved  by  the  application  of  ap- 
propriate exercises.  The  intonations  or  sound  of  the  church- 
bell,  are  clarified  and  improved  in  point  of  melody  by  the 
process  of  ringing  it,  and  a  very  lame  performer  on  the 


SPEAKING  EXCLUSIVELY  ON  ONE   KEY.  87 

violin  will  be  competent  to  the  discovery  that  the  tones  of  a 
very  common  instrument  are  perceptibly  improved  by  the 
use  of  it. 

It  matters  not  then  whether  the  voice  of  an  individual  is 
susceptible  to  one  or  many  keys  in  speaking,  as  far  as  the 
point  of  improvement  may  be  involved.  Persons  with  one 
key,  equally  with  others,  may  enlarge  the  compass  of  the  voice, 
deepen  its  tones,  and  sweeten  them  by  indulging  in  vocal 
music  on  the  most  elevated  key  of  the  voice,  and  by  partici- 
pating in  declamation  or  reading  on  the  same  key.  They 
are  presented  too  with  the  same  privilege  with  others  of 
softening  the  voice  and  of  imparting  to  it  the  power  of  modu- 
lation and  emphasis,  by  indulging  in  the  milder  exercises  for 
the  improvement  of  the  voice,  which  have  been  prescribed 
in  the  preceding  numbers  of  this  treatise,  such  as  singing  on 
a  pitch  of  the  voice  which  may  yield  a  full  and  swelling 
sound  with  perfect  ease  to  the  pupil,  declaiming  on  the  same 
key  and  reading  on  it.  And  it  may  be  suggested  in  addition 
to  these  remarks,  that  if  a  person  should  learn  from  previous 
observation,  that  his  voice  habitually  strikes  a  key  in  the 
exercise  of  speaking  which  produces  harsh  or  indifferent 
sounds,  he  may  by  repeated  efforts  procure  a  pitch  for  it 
which  will  habitually  produce  more  melodious  and  agreeable 
sounds  in  the  exercises  of  music  and  declamation. 

It  may  also  be  observed,  that  should  a  speaker  habitually 
speak  on  a  bass  key,  which  of  course  will  produce  very 
hoarse  intonations  of  the  voice,  he  may  by  persevering  ex- 
ercise increase  its  sweetness  and  melody.  If,  on  the  con- 
trary, he  should  habitually  produce  treble  notes  by  the  ex- 
ertion of  his  voice,  he  may  by  proper  exercise  soften  it, 
augment  its  energies,  and  impart  to  it  a  more  masculine 
character. 


88  SOLITARY  DECLAMATION. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

THE  FEAOnCE    OF   DECLAIMING,    WHEN  ALONE,    ON    QUESTIONS  WHIOH   MAT 
BE   SELECTED   BY  THE   PUPIL   HIMSELF. 

It  is  a  proposition  which  is  firmly  fortified  by  the  best  and 
most  enlightened  experience  of  the  world,  that  there  is  no 
theatre  of  exercise  which  yields  a  more  powerful  and  pro- 
ductive impulse  to  the  faculties  of  the  young  aspirant  for  the 
glories  of  finished  oratory,  than  a  juvenile  debating  society, 
properly  oi'ganized  and  conducted.  And  there  is  no  species 
of  discipline,  yielded  by  any  school  of  oratory  that  the  wis- 
dom of  the  world  can  furnish,  which  is  more  conducive  to 
the  development  of  the  beauties  and  powers  of  the  voice,  or 
which  is  better  fitted  to  train  the  faculties  of  the  mind  for 
the  sharp  contentions  which  arise  in  the  discussions  of  the 
bar,  the  legislature,  and  the  hustings,  than  trials  of  strength 
which  spring  up  in  a  hall  devoted  to  youthful  polemics.  It 
is  a  fact  of  incontestable  certainty,  that  many  of  the  finest 
and  most  engaging  ornaments  which  have  ever  reflected 
lustre  and  celebrity  upon  the  political  and  professional  dis- 
cussions of  this  country,  imbibed  the  divine  art  of  touching 
with  effect  the  keys  of  human  will,  human  passion,  and  hu- 
man energy,  within  the  precincts  of  the  juvenile  hall  of  de- 
bate. Amongst  the  ornaments  to  which  we  have  just  re- 
ferred, William  Pinckney,  Patrick  Henry,  and  Henry  Clay 
hold  a  prominent  and  commanding  position. 

But  notwithstanding  the  almost  incalculable  advantages 
which  may  accrue  to  the  young  disputant  from  the  theatres 
of  juvenile  strife,  yet  the  advantages  which  institutions  of 
this  kind  afford,  are  not  at  all  times  within  the  reach  of  those 
who  may  covet  them.     And  even  if  they  were,  the  exercise 


SOLITAEY  DECLAMATION.  89 

which  we  are  now  about  to  suggest,  is  one  which  may  be 
adopted  with  vast  returns  of  benefit  to  the  pupil,  either  in 
the  character  of  an  auxiliary  to  the  debating  society,  or  as  a 
source  of  discipline  and  improvement,  entirely  distinct  and 
independent  of  such  an  institution. 

The  discipline  to  which  we  refer,  is  the  habit  of  selecting, 
for  solitary  discussion,  either  legal  questions  or  queries  in 
general  politics,  literature,  history,  and  moral  ethics,  and  al- 
lowing the  pupil  to  advocate  that  side,  'pro  or  con^  which  he 
may  prefer  at  the  time.  This  involves  what  may  be  denom- 
inated a  &olo  in  the  exercise  of  discussion,  and  if  properly 
conducted  and  managed  by  the  pupil,  may  be  rendered  pro- 
ductive of  an  amount  of  improvement  to  the  voice  and  men- 
tal faculties,  second  only  to  those  acquired  in  the  more  seri- 
ous discussions  of  life. 

This  is  a  discipline  for  the  mind  and  voice,  in  the  benefits 
of  which  a  pupil  may  be  able  to  participate  when  he  is  trav- 
elling alone  along  the  highways  of  the  country — ^when  he  is 
perambulating  the  parental  fields — when  he  is  drinking  in 
the  sweets  of  retirement  in  the  forest,  or  when  he  is  im- 
mersed in  the  quietude  of  his  own  chamber.  It  may  be  a 
timely  caution,  however,  to  observe,  that  the  practitioner  or 
pupil  will  not  be  expected  to  conduct  a  solo  or  solitary  dis- 
cussion with  as  much  animation  or  vehemence  in  his  own 
chamber  (unless  he  be  a  bachelor,  and  live  alone  in  the  coun- 
try) as  he  would  when  exercising  himself  in  a  place  of  great- 
er retirement. 

To  furnish  a  very  simple  elucidation  of  this  mode  of  con- 
ducting a  discussion,  in  which  the  pupil  himself  is  to  be  the 
only  disputant,  we  may  here  suggest  to  him  that  there  is  no- 
thing easier  than  to  choose  some  proposition  with  which  he 
may  be  in  some  degree  familiar,  and  after  having  selected 
either  the  affirmative  or  negative  side  of  the  question,  and 
having  revolved  in  his  mind  the  prominent  points  involved 
in  the  side  he  has  chosen,  together  with  the  array  of  facts 


90  SOLITARY  DECLAMATION. 

which  may  be  collected  at  the  time  to  fortify  that  particular 
side,  to  begin  the  discussion  with  the  proper  degree  of  meth- 
od, earnestness,  and  zeal.  And  for  the  sake  of  prosecuting 
the  exercise  in  question  to  a  still  greater  extent,  he  may  im- 
mediately turn  around  and  advocate  the  affirmative  side  of 
the  question,  if  he  previously  sustained  the  negative,  or  vice 
versd^  and  engage  in  the  work  of  overturning  without  mercy 
the  propositions  which  he  had  previously  sustained. 

But  if  the  pupil  should  be  too  greatly  fatigued,  either  in- 
tellectually or  physically,  to  engage  in  the  labor  of  answer- 
ing a  previous  argument  of  his  own,  made  on  an  opposite 
side  of  the  question,  he  may  with  great  advantage  postpone 
the  exercise  until  a  subsequent  day  or  occasion,  when  he  may 
be  enabled  to  meet  the  labor  with  that  freshness  of  mind 
and  voice,  and  with  that  accumulation  of  views,  which  may 
result  from  the  intervening  interval  devoted  to  meditation 
and  reflection. 

There  is  another  mode  by  which  this  exercise  may  be 
prosecuted  with  immense  advantage  to  the  pupil.  In  the 
branch  of  discipline  now  under  consideration,  a  practicing 
member  of  the  bar  will  enjoy  a  very  important  advantage  over 
persons  not  similarly  situated  with  himself,  for  he  will  be 
apt  to  retain  a  tolerably  vivid  recollection,  not  only  of  all 
the  important  cases  tried  in  the  courts,  in  the  labors  of  which 
he  may  have  personally  participated,  but  also  of  the  promi- 
nent facts  and  points  connected  with  those  cases  which  have 
been  tried  in  his  hearing.  But  whether  a  person  desirous  of 
advancing  his  improvement  in  the  art  of  speaking  be  a  mem- 
ber of  the  legal  profession  or  not,  if  he  be  intelligent,  and  has 
been  in  the  habit  of  observing  the  trials  which  occur  in  the 
courts,  he  will  probably  retain  in  his  memory  a  sufficient 
recollection  of  the  facts  disclosed  in  every  important  trial 
conducted  under  his  observation,  to  know  with  a  tolerable 
approach  to  accuracy  the  points  on  which  they  were  ulti- 
mately decided.     If  thus  situated,  he  has  only  to  establish  a 


SOLITAEY  DECLAMATION.  91 

moot  court  of  his  own,  to  make  up  cases  from  the  facts  con- 
tained in  the  causes  which  have  been  formerly  tried  in  his 
hearing,  to  argue  the  side  of  the  prosecution  to-day,  and  to 
answer  himself  by  making  an  argument  in  behalf  of  the 
defence  to-morrow.  Or  if  he  chooses  a  civil  cause  for  dis- 
cussion, he  may  prosecute  in  behalf  of  the  claim  of  the 
plaintiff  in  an  action  in  the  morning,  and  answer  his  morning 
speech  by  an  argument  in  defence  of  the  interests  of  the 
defendant  in  the  evening. 

This  exercise  may  be  conducted,  by  one  who  adopts  it  in 
good  earnest,  with  as  much  system  and  method  as  the  trial 
of  a  case  in  court.  But  a  person  practicing  himself  simply 
for  improvement,  can  scarcely  be  expected  to  assume  upon 
himself  a  greater  amount  of  labor  than  to  note  down  upon  a 
small  slip  of  paper  the  prominent  facts  disclosed  in  favor  of 
that  side  of  a  cause  which  he  intends  to  advocate,  and  to 
refer  to  this  quasi  brief,  when  he  begins  the  discussion  or  is 
progressing  in  it,  for  the  purpose  of  refreshing  his  memory. 
And  after  he  has  disposed  of  that  side  of  the  question  first 
chosen  for  discussion,  he  may  then  write  a  brief  note  of  the 
points  and  facts  discussed  by  himself,  and  answer  them  at 
such  time  as  he  may  choose  in  behalf  of  the  opposite  side  of 
the  case. 

The  field  of  Congressional  and  of  Legislative  debate,  too, 
opens  to  those  who  are  ambitious  of  improving  themselves 
in  speaking  an  almost,  inexhaustible  mine  of  wealth ;  for  the 
pupil  has  only  to  peruse  the  leading  speeches  delivered  on 
the  important  questions  discussed  in  these  bodies,  to  make  a 
compendious  synopsis  of  the  best  arguments  used  on  each 
side  of  a  question,  and  to  make  a  speech  in  his  moments  of 
retirement  on  one  side  of  a  question,  and  to  answer  it  when 
opportunity  or  inclination  may  dictate. 

In  the  exercises  which  have  been  pointed  out  to  the  student 
in  the  preceding  reflections,  a  treasury  of  materials  is  pre- 
sented to  every  person  whose  bosom  may  glow  with  a  thirst 


92  SOLITARY  DECLAMATION. 

for  excellence,  the  assiduous  use  of  which  would  enable  them 
to  ascend  to  any  height  of  excellence  to  which  ordinary  am- 
bition may  legitimately  aspire.  But  the  materials  prescribed 
are  too  simple  in  their  nature,  and  may  be  commanded  with 
too  small  an  expenditure  of  labor,  to  be  justly  appreciated. 
In  the  course  of  our  past  experience,  we  knew  an  individual 
of  moderate  powers,  of  meagre  education,  and  of  still  more 
limited  pecuniary  resources,  who  commenced  the  labors  of 
the  bar  with  a  most  imperfect  and  imgainly  elocution,  who, 
by  invincible  perseverance  in  using  the  exercises  prescribed 
in  this  chapter,  became  a  very  powerful  speaker. 

It  is  somewhere  affirmed  of  the  celebrated  William  Pitt, 
that  he  adopted  it  as  the  constant  practice  of  his  life  to  listen 
with  the  most  devout  attention  to  every  speech  which  might 
be  delivered  in  the  Parliament  of  Britain  by  the  enlightened 
speakers  who  figured  in  his  day,  that  he  carefully  noted  down 
the  prominent  grounds  assumed  by  them,  and  silently  taxed 
his  reasoning  powers  to  discover  the  best  arguments  which 
might  be  made  in  reply  to  the  points  taken  by  them.  This 
is  a  labor  to  which  he  subjected  his  mind  merely  to  sharpen 
its  faculties  and  to  increase  its  promptness  in  debate,  inde- 
pendent of  any  design,  in  most  instances,  on  his  part,  to 
answer  the  particular  speaker  whom  he  might  be  observing 
at  the  time. 

In  a  public  address  delivered  by  the  late  Henry  Clay,  on 
some  occasion  of  a  literary  character,  he  took  occasion  to 
remark,  in  reference  to  the  superior  excellence  which  had 
been  ascribed  to  him  in  the  department  of  speaking,  that  the 
excellence  in  question,  if  it  really  existed,  was  attributable 
to  no  ordinary  cost  in  the  way  of  labor  and  pains-taking ; 
that  from  an  early  period  of  his  life  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  the  exercise  of  declaiming  when  alone  on  questions  selected 
for  the  occasion,  that  he  sometimes  addressed  the  stock  on 
his  farm,  at  other  times  a  tree  in  the  forest ;  and  he  might 
have  added  no  doubt,  consistently  with  a  punctilious  rever- 


GIVING  EFFECT  TO  PARTICULAR  WORDS.  93 

ence  for  truth,  that  in  the  more  advanced  stages  of  his  pro- 
gress towards  the  goal  of  perfection  in  the  accomplishment  of 
speaking,  that  he  indulged  himself  in  the  habitual  practice  of 
replying  to  some  hypothetical  argument  which  had  been  made 
by  some  able  debater  of  real  existence.  And  it  is  a  proposi- 
tion within  the  grasp  of  even  a  very  feeble  measure  of  faith, 
to  believe  that  if  the  secret  history  of  a  great  majority  of 
those  distinguished  masters  in  eloquence  who  have  impressed 
their  character  and  views  indelibly  upon  their  race  and 
country  were  revealed  to  the  world,  that  it  would  be  found 
that  they  had  reached  an  enduring  eminence  by  the  use 
and  application  of  every  resource  conducive  to  improve- 
ment which  came  within  their  reach.  And  if  the  youthful 
candidates  for  glory  in  eloquence,  who  are  now  rising  up  in 
this  country,  shall  faithfully  use  all  the  simple  appliances 
adapted  to  their  improvement  which  may  come  fairly  within 
their  reach,  they  will  never  have  just  cause  for  regretting  the 
absence  of  the  pebbles  of  Demosthenes,  or  the  want  of  his 
sea-beach  to  practice  on,  or  the  seclusion  of  his  cave. 


«  CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  POWEE  OF  GIVING  MARKED  EFFECT  TO  PARTIOULAS  WORDS  IN  A  SPEECH. 

The  power  of  giving  peculiar  effect  to  certain  words  in  a 
speech  or  sentence,  may  be  attributed  in  some  instances  to 
the  fact  of  the  speaker  having  previously  set  his  voice  to 
music  on  those  particular  words,  by  repeatedly  conning  them 
over ;  but  may  be  more  usually  ascribed  to  that  degree  of 
flexibility  and  power  of  emphasizing,  which  has  been  im- 
parted to  the  voice  of  the  speaker  by  the  application  of  pre- 
vious discipline. 


94  GIVING  EFFECT  TO  PAKTICULAB  WORDS. 

This  faculty  constitutes  one  of  the  most  potent  springs  of 
power  in  speaking,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  successful  of  all 
modes  by  which  the  attention  of  an  audience  may  be  fast- 
ened upon  the  orator  whilst  he  is  engaged  in  the  act  of  speak- 
ing, and  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers  a  durable 
recollection  of  the  speech.  A  very  few  words  uttered  or 
emphasized  with  marked  beauty  and  force,  will  engage  a 
special  share  of  attention  as  they  fall  from  the  speaker's  lips, 
and  will  be  retained  in  vivid  remembrance  by  many  of  those 
who  heard  them,  perhaps  during  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

But  if  a  speakA"  should  possess  the  power  of  arming  a 
large  proportion  of  his  words  with  an  electric  sort  of  energy, 
every  speech  he  delivers  will  be  impressed  indelibly  upon 
the  memory  of  his  hearers,  their  wills  and  judgments  will 
be  led  captive  by  the  force  of  his  language,  independent  of 
the  superior  strength  of  his  arguments  and  his  own  reputa- 
tion will  ascend  to  a  lofty  height  in  the  public  estimation. 

This  accomplishment  was  the  secret  spring  of  that  unri- 
valled sway  which  Patrick  Henry,  during  a  large  portion  of 
his  brilliant  career,  exerted  over  the  juries,  popular  assem- 
blies, and  legislative  bodies  of  his  country.  For  entirely 
apart  from  that  measure  of  influence  which  was  infused  into 
his  speeches  by  the  intrinsic  vigor  of  his  arguments,  in  which 
particular  they  were  by  no  means  deficient,  yet  the  vt)ice  of 
tradition  and  the  records  of  biography  must  have  combined 
together  to  cheat  the  world  of  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
true  properties  of  his  eloquence,  if  he  was  not  largely  in- 
debted for  his  pre-eminent  success  as  an  orator,  to  the  aston- 
ishing degree  of  energy  with  which  his  words  descended 
from  his  lips.  The  celebrated  Lord  Chatham,  whose  elocu- 
tion was  embellished  with  all  the  graces  which  could  flow 
from  intellectual  culture  of  the  highest  perfection,  a  person 
of  the  most  finished  mould,  action  of  the  most  graceful  flex- 
ibility, a  voice  of  the  most  tuneful  intonations,  and  an  eye  as 
vivid  as  the  lightning-flash  itself,  nevertheless  drew  a  liberal 


GIVING  EFFECT  TO  PARTICULAR  WORDS.  95 

share  of  the  magic  of  his  mighty  sceptre,  from  the  music  of 
his  words.  And  we  learn  from  every  intelligent  observer 
of  the  elocution  of  William  Pinkney,  whose  affluent  fulness 
in  the  chief  graces  and  powers  of  oratory,  has  left  such  an 
enduring  impression  upon  the  era  in  which  he  flourished ; 
that  one  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of  his  power  was  the 
accomplished  skill  with  which  he  enunciated  the  words  which 
he  delivered. 

In  descending  to  orators  who  figured  in  more  recent  times, 
the  name  of  George  McDufiie  will  occur  to  every  one  in  a 
state  of  almost  inseparable  association  with  the  specific  power 
now  under  consideration.  A  very  intelligent  gentleman  who 
heard  his  celebrated  speech  on  the  removal  of  the  deposits 
by  General  Jackson,  observed  at  a  period  long  after  the 
speech  in  question  had  been  delivered,  that  many  of  the 
identical  words  uttered  by  Mr.  McDuffie  in  delivering  that 
speech,  continued  then  to  linger  upon  his  ear,  and  that  the  term 
"  Pandemonium,^''  which  was  used  in  some  way  as  being  ap- 
plicable to  General  Jackson  and  his  Cabinet,  whilst  it  appeared 
to  fall  like  a  peal  of  thunder  in  the  hall  of  Representatives 
when  it  was  uttered,  still  seemed  to  ring  in  his  ear  at  the 
time  he  alluded  to  the  subject.  When  he  addressed  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  Oregon  question,  imme- 
diately after  his  election  to  that  body  in  1843,  though  then 
divested  of  his  original  fire  and  impetuosity  by  the  enfeebled 
condition  of  his  physical  energies,  yet  this  distinguishing 
property  of  his  elocution  presented  itself  with  striking  prom- 
inence, in  answering  the  arguments  of  those  gentlemen  who 
had  affirmed  the  perfect  clearness  of  the  American  title  to 
Oregon. 

Mr.  McDuffie  remarked,  in  the  course  of  his  speech, 
"  Mr.  President,  if  our  right  to  Oregon  be  as  clear  as  some 
gentlemen  assume  it  to  be,  why  slumber  upon  it  so  long  V 
The  whole  sentence  within  which  the  preceding  interroga- 
tory is  comprehended,  was  remarkable  for  the  searching 


96  GIVING  EFFECT  TO  PARTICULAR  WORDS. 

energy  with  which  it  was  uttered^  but  the  word  '•'•  slum- 
ber''' fell  from  his  lips  with  a  fulness,  fire  and  vigor  which 
produced  a  marked  impression  at  the  time,  and  which 
will  probably  be  long  remembered  by  many  of  those  who 
heard  it.  Senator  Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  also  pos- 
sessed the  power  in  question  in  a  remarkable  degree  of  ful- 
ness, and  it  would  assert  its  presence  not  only  once  or  twice 
in  the  progress  of  a  speech,  but  in  every  stage  of  its  delivery. 
And  this  accomplished  orator  was  unquestionably  indebted 
for  this  controlling  skill  in  sounding  particular  words,  to  the 
persevering  use  of  the  varied  appliances  which  may  yield  an 
efficacious  culture  to  the  music  of  the  voice  and  to  its  powers 
of  articulation  and  emphasis.  In  addressing  a  multitude  of 
human  beings  on  the  Canton  course,  near  Baltimore,  in  the 
presidential  canvass  of  1840,  he  took  occasion  to  refer  to  the 
notorious  "hard  cider"  sneer  which  had  been  used  during 
that  excited  period,  in  connection  with  the  name  of  General 
Harrison,  and  whilst  commenting  in  a  strain  of  vehement 
eloquence  on  the  sneer  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
Mr.  Preston  remarked,  "but,  fellow-citizens,  we  took  up 
this  contemptible  effiision  of  malice,  and  threw  it  like  a  hand- 
grenade  into  the  ranks  of  the  democracy,  and  they  scattered 
like  pigeons  under  the  shot  of  the  fowler."  There  was  a 
musical  cadence  connected  with  the  utterance  of  the  words 
hand-grenade^  which  yet  continues  to  ring  upon  the  ear  of 
the  writer  of  these  remarks,  but  the  inimitable  action  which 
accompanied  the  utterance  of  these  terms,  appeared  to  sug- 
gest to  the  assembly  at  the  time  the  reality  of  a  hand-gren- 
ade being  tossed  amongst  them,  accompanied  by  an  imme* 
diatc  explosion. 

In  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  more  varied  beauties  of 
the  human  voice,  no  orator  who  has  lived  in  modern  times — ■ 
perhaps  there  has  been  no  orator  who  lived  at  any  time — who 
surpassed  the  late  Mr.  Clay.  In  the  expression  of  the  feel- 
ings of  deep  and  quiet  pathos,  and  in  the  strains  of  elevated 


GIVING  EFFECT  TO  PARTICULAR  WORDS.  97 

and  impassioned  eloquence,  his  voice  was  the  perfection  of 
music.  But  this  great  master  of  the  human  passions  was 
gifted  too  with  the  power  of  lending  magic  to  particular 
words.  But  the  special  effect  given  by  Mr.  Clay  to  any 
particular  word,  was  derived  more  from  the  tremulous  beau- 
ty of  the  inflexions  and  intonations  of  his  voice,  than  from  the 
electrifying  energy  with  which  he  uttered  them.  Early  in 
the  year  1847,  and  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Monterey 
had  been  fought,  an  immense  meeting  was  held  at  the  Ex- 
change in  New  Orleans,  to  adopt  measures  for  the  relief  of  the 
suflTering  population  of  Ireland.  Amongst  the  eminent  speak- 
ers who  addressed  this  meeting,  Mr.  Clay  was  one,  and  in 
the  course  of  an  address  of  about  fifteen  minutes  in  duration, 
which  was  marked  as  well  by  the  beauty  of  its  delivery  as 
by  the  philanthropy  of  the  sentiments  it  breathed,  he  re- 
marked in  a  deep  and  tremulous  strain  of  quiet  pathos — 
"  Refuse  relief  to  the  Irish,  fellow-citizens  !  Refuse  relief  to 
suffering  Ireland !  when  every  battle-field  in  America,  from 
Quebec  to  Monterey,  has  been  crimsoned  with  Irish  blood  !" 
Taking  the  terminating  points  of  the  battle-grounds  of  Amer- 
ica, both  on  our  northern  and  southern  frontiers,  as  far  as  they 
had  been  then  fought,  (for  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista  did  not 
occur  until  some  weeks  afterwards,)  he  presented  a  practical 
illustration  of  his  views  in  the  most  thrilling  tones  of  sweet 
and  measured  beauty  to  which  the  human  voice  is  suscepti- 
ble. There  were  hundreds  fresh  from  the  heights  of  Mon- 
terey present  at  the  time,  and  upon  whose  hearts  this  pas- 
sage of  the  speech  fell  like  electricity. 

The  late  William  Gaston,  of  North  Carolina,  possessed  to 
a  very  remarkable  extent,  the  faculty  of  infusing  a  stirring 
degree  of  energy  into  particular  words,  when  wrought  up  to 
the  pitch  of  unusual  fervor  in  debate.  "When  once  address- 
ing the  legislature  of  North  Carolina  in  opposition  to  some 
bill  proposing  relief  for  political  grievances  to  a  certain  part 
of  the  State,  and  when  his  indignation  was  provoked-by  what 

5 


98  GIVING  EFFECT  TO  PAETICULAE  WORDS. 

he  considered  a  measure  of  intimidation  held  out  by  the 
friends  of  the  bill  under  consideration  to  coerce  those  op- 
posed to  it  into  a  support  of  it,  he  remarked  with  an  energy 
which  seemed  to  penetrate  the  floor  on  which  he  was 
standing  :  "  Mr.  Speaker,  if  the  friends  of  this  bill  desire  the 
members  from  the  East  to  vote  for  it,  let  them  remove  their 
rod  sir."  The  word  "  rod"  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  speaker 
with  almost  the  startling  energy  of  an  exploding  bombshell. 

Whilst  remarking  on  this  subject,  it  is  due  to  the  present 
chief  magistrate  of  the  United  States,  General  Pierce,  to  sug- 
gest, that  a  more  conspicuous  display  of  the  capacity  for  in- 
vesting particular  words  with  a  felicitous  effect,  is  rarely  pre- 
sented than  was  afforded  by  him  in  speaking  the  following 
sentence,  which  is  contained  in  his  inaugural  address  :  "  You 
have  summoned  me  here  in  my  weakness^  now  you  must 
support  me  with  your  strength^  The  people  of  the  United 
States  were  supposed  to  compose  the  audience  to  which  these- 
remarks  were  addressed,  and  the  relative  position  occupied 
by  two  words  in  the  sentence,  "  weakness'^  and  "  strength^'' 
combined  with  the  graceful  animation  and  distinctness  with 
which  they  were  uttered,  made  an  impression  on  the  minds 
of  those  present  at  the  time,  which  will  not  be  speedily 
effaced. 

Some  care  has  been  taken  in  this  chapter,  to  present  from 
the  speeches  of  distinguished  American  orators,  a  few  simple 
examples  in  illustration  of  the  accomplishment  in  speaking, 
to  the  consideration  of  which  this  number  has  been  princi- 
pally devoted.  In  the  number  next  succeeding,  an  effort 
will  be  made  to  point  out  and  simplify,  as  much  as  possible, 
the  means  by  which  this  faculty  may  be  acquired  and  per- 
petuated. 


HOW  TO  GIVE  EFFECT  TO  CEKTAIN  WOKDS.       99 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

HO-W   THE   FACULTY   OF   YIELDING   PECULIAR    EFFECT   TO    CEETAIN    WORDS 
MAY   BE   ACQUIRED. 

It  is  a  proposition  which  requires  no  profuse  expenditure 
of  reason  to  demonstrate  it,  that  the  capacity  for  giving  an  ef- 
fective or  impressive  sound  to  particular  words,  in  a  speech 
or  sentence,  arises  more  from  that  improvement  of  the  voice 
in  melody  and  flexibility  which  is  produced  by  long  perse- 
verance in  using  the  proper  modes  of  discipline,  than  from 
any  particular  attention  which  may  be  yielded  to  the  partic- 
ular words  themselves.  For  every  intelligent  observer  who 
possesses  any  skill  in  musical  performances,  must  be  con- 
scious of  the  great  expertness  which  he  acquires  by  practice 
in  producing  certain  sounds,  in  the  application  of  the  bow 
and  the  fingers  to  a  violin.  It  is  thus  with  the  voice 
itself,  when  it  is  improved  by  the  application  of  discipline, 
in  the  general  character  of  its  intonations  it  is  also  improved 
in  its  capability  for  pronouncing  particular  words  as  the  speak 
er  or  reader  chooses  to  pronounce  them.  Just  as  the  limbs  of 
the  body,  when  improved  in  their  general  elasticity,  by  exer- 
cises of  any  description,  not  only  receive  from  this  discipline 
an  adaptation  to  running,  jumping  and  wrestling,  but  are  also 
qualified  by  the  same  exercises  to  acquire,  with  greater  faci- 
lity the  graceful  faculty  of  dancing. 

It  is  a  proposition  which  requires  no  profuse  expenditure 
of  reasoning  to  demonstrate  it,  that  the  capacity  for  giving  an 
effective  or  impressive  sound  to  particular  words,  in  a  speech 
or  address  which  the  pupil  may  read  or  speak,  those  which 
may  be  justly  denominated  the  leading  words  in  a  sentence, 
whether  they  are  located  at  its  commencement  or  at  its  close. 


100  AN  EXERCISE   ON  CERTAIN  WORDS. 

And  when  the  leading  words  are  discovered,  it  should  be  the 
object  of  the  pupil  to  give  to  them  a  very  conspicuous  utter- 
ance in  speaking  or  reading  the  sentence.  And  by  the  faith- 
ful observation  of  these  prominent  words  in  a  sentence,  aid- 
ed by  the  energetic  pronounciation  of  them  when  they  are 
reached  in  the  exercise  of  reading  or  speaking,  the  speaker 
or  pupil  will  not  only  sharpen  his  faculties  of  discrimination 
in  such  a  way  as  to  be  enabled  to  detect  the  locality  of  such 
words  in  other  sentences  entirely  distinct  from  the  one  in 
which  he  is  exercised,  but  he  will  fall  habitually  also  into 
the  practice  of  yielding  to  all  prominent  words  in  sentences 
a  full  and  stirring  measure  of  sound  ;  but  more  particularly 
will  he  give  an  engaging  sound  to  words  of  a  similar  form 
with  those  on  which  his  voice  has  been  previously  practiced. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

THE   EFFECT   OF    GIVING   A   HOUND,    FULL,    AND   DEEP   SOUND   TO    THE   VOIOB 
BY   THE   REPEATED   VOCIFERATION   OF   CERTAIN   WORDS. 

There  are  certain  words,  sentences,  and  expressions  con- 
tained in  the  treasury  of  human  language,  which,  by  the  daily 
exercise  of  repeating  them,  a  pupil  will  find  exceedingly  ben- 
eficial in  the  effect  of  giving  to  the  voice  a  full,  deep,  and 
melodious  sound.  This  exercise  may  be  conducted  on  the 
various  pitches  of  the  human  voice,  from  an  alto  to  the 
bass  key. 

The  words  to  which  reference  will  be  particularly  made  in 
this  connection,  are  those  either  commencing  with  the  letter 
O,  or  having  their  characteristic  sound  determined  by  the  ap- 
pearance in  them  of  that  particular  letter.  As  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  proposition  under  consideration,  we  may  take  the 
words,  "bold,"  "cold,"  "hold,"  "gold,"  "roU'd,"  "mould," 


AN  EXERCISE  ON  CERTAIN-  WORDS.  101 

"poll'd,"  "  scold,"  "toll'd,"  and  repeat  tHeili' on  the  variois 
keys  of  the  voice  with  very  improving  results.  .      >    -  ^ 

When  these.words,  or  words  similar  to -them  In  rmelhtM 
letter  O  gives  the  determining  sound  or  accentuation  to  the 
word,  are  frequently  repeated  in  succession,  with  a  pause 
occurring  of  a  few  seconds  between  them,  on  the  loftiest 
pitch  of  the  voice,  they  tend  to  give  to  it  reach  and  tension, 
whilst  the  particular  sound  of  the  words  improves  the  voice 
in  rotundity,  in  fulness,  and  in  depth. 

But  the  idea  is  not  intended  to  be  conveyed  to  the  mind 
of  the  pupil,  that  the  exercise  of  the  voice  on  words  of  this 
description  is  to  be  confined  to  its  highest  key  alone.  It 
may  be  exercised  in  this  way  on  its  various  other  keys  with 
very  great  advantage.  The  highest  pitch  of  the  voice  is  se- 
lected in  the  first  instance,  in  order  that  the  voice,  in  sound- 
ing words  of  this  description  on  that  particular  key,  may  be 
stretched  to  its  utmost  point  of  tension  and  reach. 

Let  us  take  another  example  of  words  in  which  the  letter 
O  gives  the  determining  sound — words  which  commence  a 
sentence  with  the  letter  O  in  them,  and  which  contain  a  com- 
mand or  request,  as  the  case  may  be.  A  speaker  may  be 
referring,  in  a  speech  or  address  of  any  kind,  to  the  indis- 
criminate havoc  produced  by  death  amidst  the  different  ages 
of  the  human  race,  and  may  present  as  a  request  to  his  audi- 
ence, the  sentence — "  Go  to  the  grave-yard,  and  you  may 
there  find  graves  of  every  length.  Go  to  the  death-bed 
scene,  and  you  there  see  stretched  beneath  the  icy  sceptre  of 
the  grim  monster  victims  of  every  age.  Go  to  the  house 
of  mourning,  and  you  may  see  the  tear  of  grief  streaming 
for  charming  infancy  and  blooming  youth,  as  well  as  for  ma- 
ture manhood  and  hoary  age."  The  frequent  repetition  of 
the  word  "  go"  in  sentences  of  this  description,  yields  an  im- 
proving influence  to  the  voice  on  any  of  its  keys,  but  partic- 
ularly on  the  highest  key,  when  sentences  of  this  kind  may 
be  adopted  as  exercises. 


102  LOUD  SPEAKING. 

;  "^Ji.  speatker^  for'th«  purpose  of  illustrating  the  baneful 
fri^itsrof^  intemperance,  may  say  to  his  audience — Go  to  the 
prisoEs  cf  y.bui?ccc«ntiy/and  behold  them  literally  crammed 
with  the  victims  of  intemperance.  Go  to  the  halls  of  jus- 
tice, and  cast  your  eye  on  the  criminal  dock.  Go  to  the 
chamber  where  squalid  wretchedness  reigns  with  absolute 
sway,  &c.  Go  to  the  dramshops  of  your  country,  (fee,  and 
finally.  Go  to  the  fatal  tree,  and  there  behold  the  victim  of 
intemperance  closing  his  days  in  anguish  and  in  infamy. 

In  referring  to  examples  of  countries  which  may  serve  to 
illustrate  the  baneful  effects  of  tyranny,  ignorance,  or  any 
other  destructive  moral  or  political  agency,  we  may  refer  in 
the  speech  to  a  great  number  of  countries  in  the  following 
manner  :  Go  to  Russia,  and  see  there  the  blighting  effects  of 
tyranny.  Go  to  Turkey,  &c.  Go  to  Persia,  &c.  Go  to  Po- 
land, &c.     Go  to  Spain,  &c. 

But  whilst  the  foregoing  sentences  occur  occasionally  in  a 
speech  or  address  of  any  description,  and  serve  merely  for 
the  purpose  of  exemplification  in  an  exercise  for  the  voice, 
they  may  be  pushed  to  any  length  which  the  pupil  may 
choose.  He  may  take  every  State  in  the  American  Union, 
beginning  with  Maine,  without  adding  any  expletives  or  other 
words,  simply  repeating  the  brief  sentences,  Go  to  Maine, 
Go  to  New  Hampshire,  &c.,  until  he  runs  through  the  whole 
catalogue.  And  in  a  similar  manner  run  over  any  number 
of  the  States  of  Europe,  Asia,  or  Africa. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

LOUD  SPEAKING   CONSIDERED. 


A  PUBLIC  speaker  should  never  acquire  the  habitual  prac- 
tice of  speaking  in  a  loud  and  vociferous  strain.  There  may 
be  exceptions  to  this  proposition,  but  they  are  exceedingly 


LOUD  SPEAKING.  103 

rare,  and  are  of  such  a  partial  character  as  not  to  disturb  its 
general  accuracy  and  force.  It  may  be  perfectly  legitimate 
that  a  speaker  should  expand  his  voice  to  the  farthest 
limit  of  its  strength  to  the  end  that  he  may  be  distinctly 
heard  by  a  very  multitudinous  assembly  which  is  spread 
over  a  very  ample  surface  ;  or  it  may  answer  a  very  useful 
purpose  that  the  fullest  range  should  be  given  to  the  voice 
when  a  speaker  arises  to  address  a  popular  assembly  which 
is  already  raised  to  a  very  high  pitch  of  excitement,  touch- 
ing any  very  important  topic  which  may  be  in  the  progress 
of  discussion  before  it.  But  the  speaker  should  take  a 
special  degree  of  care  to  assure  himself  that  his  audience  is 
in  an  excited  state  of  feeling  before  he  undertakes  to  address 
it  at  the  topmost  key  of  his  voice.  For  whilst  he  may  be 
fully  appreciated  in  addressing  with  unusual  energy  and  ve- 
hemence an  assembly,  which  has  contracted  from  previous 
speaking,  a  very  fervid  state  of  feeling — yet  a  speaker  will 
appear  to  be  entirely  ahead  of  his  audience,  and  will  indicate 
a  childish  excitableness  of  disposition  in  addressing  m  a 
very  animated  and  boisterous  manner  an  assembly  which  is 
perfectly  calm  and  self-possessed.  And  when  a  speaker 
does  address  even  an  excited  assembly  with  the  utmost 
strength  of  his  voice,  he  should  take  the  precaution  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly brief  in  his  remarks ;  for  neither  his  own  voice 
nor  the  sympathies  of  his  audience  will  sustain  him  in 
speaking  with  peculiar  advantage  in  a  strain  of  unusual 
fervor  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  minutes.  His  voice  will  in 
all  probability  begin  to  relax  in  some  degree ;  to  contract  a 
partial  hoarseness,  and  to  exhaust  a  portion  of  its  melody  from 
speaking  in  a  strain  of  unusual  vehemence  more  than  fifteen 
minutes  ;  and  it  will  be  difficult  to  preserve  the  feelings  of 
an  audience  at  the  acme  of  their  interest  for  a  longer 
space  of  time  than  that  which  has  just  been  suggested,  ex- 
cept in  the  instance  which  has  been  mentioned  in  the  outset 
of  this  chapter,  where  the  speaker,  in  order  to  be  under- 


104  LOUD  SPEAKING. 

stood,  is  compelled  to  speak  loud ;  the  feelings  of  an  audience 
will  also  become  fatigued  by  a  lengthened  strain  of  vehe- 
ment declamation.  To  assure  to  an  orator  the  patient  and 
well-sustained  attention  of  an  audience  through  the  delivery 
of  an  extended  speech  or  argument,  there  must  be  elevations 
and  depressions  or  descents  in  the  voice  of  the  speaker. 

But  as  an  additional  and  very  persuasive  reason  why  a 
speaker  should  not  habitually  indulge  himself  in  very  loud 
speaking,  it  may  be  very  truthfully  affirmed  that  speaking,  in 
proportion  as  its  volume  of  sound  is  extended,  sinks  in  the 
same  ratio  in  the  scale  of  intellectuality.  So  much  is  delib- 
eration, calmness  and  placidity  associated  in  the  human 
mind  with  intellectual  operations,  that  the  best  and  most 
cogent  reasoning  which  ever  falls  from  human  lips,  loses  to 
some  extent  its  appearance  of  intelligence  by  being  con- 
veyed to  the  ear  of  an  audience  in  a  boisterous  manner. 
The  stunning  roar  of  the  voice  will  attract  the  attention  of 
hearers  so  much  to  the  impetuous  energies  of  the  physical 
man,  that  they  will  not  have  the  power  of  estimating  prop- 
erly the  intellectual  man. 

To  illustrate  in  a  still  more  lucid  manner  the  reality  of 
the  principle  asserted  in  the  commencement  of  this  chapter, 
it  may  be  suggested  to  the  pupil  that  the  divinest  and  most 
touching  melodies  in  music  are  conveyed  to  the  senses  through 
a  soft  and  flexible  medium  of  sound.  And  it  may  be  received 
as  a  proposition  of  infallible  certainty,  that  all  music  which 
is  characterized  by  unusual  loudness  of  sound,  is  not  calcu- 
lated to  touch  any  congenial  chord  or  key  of  sympathy  in 
the  human  breast,  unless  it  be  an  invocation  to  arms,  a  song 
of  exultation  at  some  public  jubilee  or  festival,  or  an  anthem 
at  some  religious  celebration. 

Another  reason  why  a  peculiar  loudness  of  sound  is  apt  to 
depreciate  the  eflbrt  of  a  speaker  in  the  estimation  of  his 
audience,  is  the  almost  inseparable  connection  which  exists 
in  the  human  mind  between  unusual  compass  of  voice  and 


THE  KEPETITION  OF  INTEEROGATORIES.         105 

the  subordinate  intelligences  in  the  scale  of  creation.  For 
instance,  sounds  of  this  description,  as  a  characteristic  prop- 
erty, are  usually  attributed,  as  far  as  they  are  used  amongst 
men,  to  uncultivated  and  savage  life — and  amongst  brutes, 
to  the  ox,  the  ass,  the  lion,  and  the  alligator. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 


THE  FREQUENT  EEPETITION  OF  INTEREOGATORIES  IN  SPEAKING  A  BENEFICIAL 
EXERCISE   FOR   THE   VOICE. 

In  connection  with  the  subject  of  declamation,  it  may  be 
appropriately  observed,  that  there  is  one  very  important  ex- 
ercise for  the  voice  which  a  speaker  should  certainly  include 
in  his  disciplinary  code.  This  is  not  declamation  in  its  perfect 
character,  but  approaches  the  nature  of  that  exercise  to  some 
extent,  and  may  be  denominated  a  fragmentary  declamation. 
This  discipline  for  the  voice  consists  in  the  repetition  of  the 
various  interrogatories  which  are  used  in  conversation  and  in 
speaking,  in  regular  succession,  and  for  a  considerable  interval 
of  time,  on  each  occasion  when  the  exercise  shall  be  re- 
sorted to. 

Most  persons  have  observed  the  animation  which  is  com- 
municated to  a  speech,  when  an  energetic  speaker  pours  out 
a  number  of  interrogatories  in  quick  succession.  And  it  is 
a  circumstance  which  is  perceptible  to  every  person  who  has 
yielded  even  a  superficial  degree  of  attention  to  proceedings 
of  this  description,  how  much  additional  vigor  is  exerted  by 
the  voice  of  a  spirited  speaker  in  the  act  of  propounding 
questions  to  an  audience. 

The  terms,  the  use  of  which  is  here  enjoined  on  the  stu- 
dent in  elocution,  are  the  following  :  How  ?  Who  ?  What  ? 
Where  ?  When  ?  Why  ?  and  various  other  wofds  which  usu- 

5* 


106         THE  REPETITION  OF  INTERROGATORIES. 

ally  constitute  the  leading  terms  in  any  interrogatory  which 
may  be  used  in  the  delivery  of  a  speech  or  address,  but  which 
do  not  at  all  times,  when  standing  alone,  form  a  full  and 
perfect  interrogatory,  without  the  accompaniment  of  other 
terms  or  language  applicable  to  the  information  apparently 
or  really  sought  by  the  interrogatory. 

To  avail  himself  of  the  benefits  of  this  exercise,  whenever 
an  opportunity  of  doing  so  may  present  itself,  the  pupil  may 
frame  if  he  chooses  a  declamation  formula,  containing  an 
extended  list  of  interrogatories,  preceded  in  each  instance  by 
the  different  terms  which  have  been  heretofore  presented  in 
this  number,  and  by  any  other  terms  which  usually  assume 
a  leading  position  in  questions  of  any  kind. 

A  pupil  in  declamation  may  frame  a  formula  for  his  own 
private  exercise  in  the  following  manner,  assuming  to  himself 
the  position,  as  is  usually  the  case  where  questions  of  the 
kind  are  propounded,  that  some  proposition  has  been  affirmed 
by  a  previous  speaker  in  which  he  does  not  concur.     He  may 

begin  his  formula  thus :  If  the  proposition  which  Mr.  B 

has  just  affirmed  be  true,  how  is  it  that  no  person  besides 
the  honorable  member  himself  has  been  competent  to  discern 
the  justness  of  his  position?  How  is  it  that  the  proposition 
in  question  is  contradicted  by  the  past  history  of  the  world  ?  , 
How  is  it  that  the  proposition  affirmed  by  him  to  be  just,  has 
been  tacitly  and  impliedly  condemned  by  the  practice  of 
every  free  government  of  the  world,  both  in  ancient  and 
modem  times  ?  How  happens  it  that  the  proposition  of  the 
honorable  member  has  been  condemned  in  all  ages  and  in 
all  countries  by  the  principles  of  sound  morality?  How 
happens  it  that  the  dictates  of  public  and  private  interest 
condemn  the  proposition  1  How  happens  it  that  the  princi- 
ple of  decency  condemns  it  %  And,  beyond  all  other  consid- 
erations, how  is  it  that  the  solemn  warnings  of  the  Holy 
Bible  condemn  it  1 

The  preceding  skeleton  is  of  course  intended  only  to  serve 


THE   REPETITION   OF   INTERROGATORIES.  107 

as  a  specimen  or  sample  of  the  artificial  formula  which  every 
pupil  may  adopt  for  his  personal  improvement  in  the  private 
exercises  which  are  designed  for  the  amelioration  and  cor- 
rection of  the  voice.  The  formula  in  question  may  be  ex 
tended  to  any  length  the  pupil  may  choose.  And  the  formulas 
should  be  prepai^ed  in  such  a  manner  that  all  the  questions 
propounded  in  each  of  them  separately,  should  be  preceded 
by  only  one  of  the  terms  heretofore  suggested  in  this  chapter ; 
that  is  to  say,  each  formula  should  be  devoted  exclusively  to 
one  of  the  leading  terms  of  a  full  interrogatory  heretofore 
mentioned,  viz. :  How  1  Who  1  What "?  Where  ?  &c.,  accom- 
panied with  the  necessary  amount  of  language  to  render  each 
interrogatory  full  and  complete. 

In  reference  to  interrogatories  commencing  with  the  term 
"  TF%y,"  we  are  presented  with  a  very  beautiful  example  in 
one  of  Doctor  Channing's  sermons,  devoted  to  the  elucidation 
of  the  principles  of  Christianity  ;  and  this  is  a  sermon  which 
may  be  very  justly  commended  to  every  one,  not  merely  as 
a  beautiful  exemplification  of  the  exercise  here  recommended, 
but  because  it  is  also  a  spring  of  profound  thought  and  ele- 
gant diction ;  and  from  the  easy,  smooth,  and  flowing  style 
of  its  sentences,  will  serve  as  a  selection  of  unsurpassed  ex- 
cellence in  which  the  pupil  may  daily  exercise  himself  to 
very  great  advantage,  both  in  reading  and  in  declamation. 
This  sermon  begins  as  follows :  Why  was  Christianity  given  1 
Wliy  did  Christ  seal  it  with  his  blood  ?  Why  is  it  to  be  preach- 
ed? (fee.  The  preceding  example  has  been  given  to  the  pupil 
to  show  him  clearly,  by  a  practical  instance  of  the  kind,  in 
what  way  interrogatories  may  be  properly  commenced  with 
the  word  Why  ?  But  the  pupil  may  adopt  for  himself  a  for- 
mula, in  which  interrogatories  commencing  with  the  same 
word,  may  be  extended  in  immediate  succession,  to  any 
reasonable  length. 

As  an  example  of  interrogatories  commencing  with  the 
word  "  Where,"  a  very  brief  extract  is  here  presented,  from 


108  THE  EEPETITION  OF  INTERROGATORIES. 

a  speech  delivered  by  the  late  Daniel  Webster,  at  a  dinner 
given  in  honor  of  his  public  services,  by  the  people  of  Boston, 
'June  3d,  1828.  Having  previously  referred,  in  the  course 
of  his  remarks,  to  an  attempt  which  had  been  made  in  some 
parts  of  the  confederacy,  to  draw  a  line  of  discrimination 
between  New  England  and  other  States  of  the  Union,  by  a 
classification  of  the  States  in  which  the  States  of  New  Eng- 
land were  designated  as  the  "  New  England  States,"  and  the 
other  States  of  the  Union,  termed  "  the  Patriot  States,"  Mr. 
Webster,  in  a  stream  of  indignant  eloquence,  propounds  the 
following  questions  to  his  audience  : — "Where  but  in  New 
England  did  the  great  drama  of  the  revolution  open  ?  Where 
but  on  the  soil  of  Massachusetts  was  the  first  blood  poured 
out  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  independence?  Where 
sooner  than  here,  where  earlier  than  within  the  walls  which 
now  surround  us  was  patriotism  found,  when  to  be  patriotic 
was  to  endanger  houses  and  homes,  and  -svives  and  children, 
and  to  be  ready  also,  to  pay  for  the  reputation  of  patriotism 
by  the  sacrifice  of  blood  and  of  life  1"  The  pupil  or  person 
practicing  himself  in  the  exercise  of  declamation  may  adopt 
a  formula  for  daily  practice,  of  his  own  creation,  in  which 
questions  similar  to  those  immediately  preceding  may  be 
extended  at  considerable  length. 

As  an  example  of  questions  commencing  with  the  word 
"  Who,"  we  present  an  extract  from  a  discourse  delivered 
December  22d,  1820,  by  Mr.  Webster,  in  commemoration 
of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  at  Plymouth.  Referring  to 
the  peculiar  circumstances  which  marked  the  early  settle- 
ment of  New  England,  Mr.  Webster  propounded  in  that 
particular  connection  the  following  questions :  "  Who  would 
wish  that  his  country^s  existence  had  otherwise  begun  ?  Who 
would  desire  the  power  of  going  hack  to  the  ages  of  f able? 
Who  would  wish  for  an  origin  obscured  in  the  darkness  of  an- 
tiquity ?  WJio  would  wish  for  other  emblazoning  of  his  coun- 
try's heraldry,  or  other  ornaments  of  her  genealogy,  than  to 


THE  EEPETITION  OF  INTERKOGATOKIES.  109 

he  able  to  say  that  her  first  existence  was  with  intelligence  ; 
her  first  breathy  the  inspirations  of  liberty  ;  her  first  principle^ 
the  truth  of  divine  religion?''''  In  a  formula  framed  and 
adopted  for  exercise,  a  pupil  or  practitioner  may  extend 
questions  of  a  similar  character  with  the  preceding,  to  any 
length  he  chooses. 

As  an  example  of  interrogatories  commencing  with  the 
word  "  What,"  we  submit  the  following.  A  speaker,  in  de- 
nouncing the  improper  application  of  the  power  of  taxation 
by  any  legislative  assembly,  may  be  supposed,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  enforcing  his  views,  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  celebrat- 
ed "  tea  tax,"  in  the  following  questions : — What  circum- 
stance was  it  which  caused  the  fires  of  the  American  revolu 
tion  to  blaze  forth  1  What  circumstance  was  it  that  stimu- 
lated the  early  apostles  of  liberty  in  this  country,  to  pour 
out  their  blood  like  water  1  What  measure  of  the  British 
Parliament  was  it,  which  threw  this  country  into  a  ferment 
from  its  Northern  to  its  Southern  extremity  1  What  en- 
croachment of  the  British  Parliament  was  it  which  caused 
the  friends  of  the  revolution  to  brave  every  terror,  to  incur 
every  danger,  to  share  the  fatigues  of  every  toil,  and  the 
bitterness  of  every  sacrifice  1 — it  was  the  power  of  unjust 
taxation.  A  formula  adopted  simply  for  exercise,  may  con- 
tain questions  similar  to  the  foregoing,  extended  to  muct 
greater  length. 

As  an  example  of  interrogatories  commencing  with  tht 
word  "  When."  A  debater  in  speaking  in  praise  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  administration,  may  be  supposed  to  propound, 
in  the  course  of  his  remarks,  the  following  questions : — ^When 
did  our  country  enjoy  a  higher  degree  of  prosperity  at  home 
and  respectability  abroad,  than  during  Mr.  Jefierson's  ad- 
ministration 1  When  were  the  duties  of  the  government 
administered  with  a  more  single  eye  to  the  liberty  and  hap- 
piness of  the  citizen,  than  at  that  memorable  period  1  When 
was  the  cause  of  science  and  of  letters  more  munificently 


110         THE  EEPETITION  OF  INTERROGATORIES. 

encouraged'?  When  was  the  extension  of  free  principles 
more  ably  advocated  ?  A  formula  for  practice,  containing 
questions  of  this  sort,  may  be  extended  as  the  practitioner 
may  desire. 

A  sufficient  number  of  examples  have  now  been  yielded 
to  the  student  or  practitioner  on  this  subject,  to  explain  to 
him,  with  some  degree  of  clearness,  in  what  manner  interrog» 
atories  may  be  shaped  and  used,  so  as  to  serve  as  a  daily 
practical  exercise  for  the  human  voice.  And  it  may  be 
proper  to  observe,  that  in  order  to  render  them  productive 
of  all  the  benefits  they  are  capable  of  yielding  to  the  voice, 
the  student  should  declaim  these  interrogatories  whenever 
retirement  may  permit  him,  on  the  loudest  key  of  his  voice; 
and  with  a  brief  pause  between  each  question,  should  repeat 
them  for  the  space  of  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  on  every  occa- 
sion in  which  he  engages  in  the  exercise.  He  may  exercise 
his  voice  on  a  formula  containing  the  questions,  beginning 
with  the  word  "  how  "  at  one  interval  of  practice  ;  and  he 
may  select  the  formula  which  contains  the  interrogatories, 
beginning  with  the  word  "  why  "  at  another  exercise.  And 
he  may  repeat  and  re-repeat  the  questions  contained  in  any 
one  formula,  and  add  to  them  new  interrogatories  as  his 
pleasure  may  suggest  and  his  invention  may  permit.  Or  he 
may  take  the  formulas,  one  after  another,  embracing  the  in- 
terrogatories which  commence  with  the  various. words  that 
have  been  presented  in  the  course  of  this  chapter,  and  re- 
peat them  at  one  lesson  or  exercise  of  the  voice.  The  par- 
ticular exercise  of  the  voice  which  is  connected  with  the 
sounding  of  these  interrogatories  in  an  energetic  and  ani- 
mated strain  is  the  advantage  which  is  sought,  and  it  matters 
not  how  often  they  may  be  repeated  over. 

The  adoption  of  these  interrogatories  in  a  speech  or  ar- 
gument, imparts  a  very  large  accession  to  the  animation  of 
the  exercise,  if  they  should  be  repeated  with  a  proper  degree 
of  energy.     But  the  principal  aim  in  this  treatise  is  to  in- 


THE   EEPETITION"  OF  INTEKROGATORIES.         Ill 

culcate  the  use  of  these  questions  as  a  very  essential  auxil- 
iary in  the  important  undertaking  of  improving  the  voice  for 
speaking.  And  the  philosophy  of  exercising  the  voice  in 
this  particular  manner,  may  be  traced  to  the  fact  that  these 
interrogatories  cannot  be  repeated  with  a  peculiar  loudness 
of  sound  without  yielding  a  very  improving  discipline  to  the 
voice  and  great  animation  to  the  exercise  in  progress  at  the 
time.  And  in  addition  to  this,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
when  the  voice  shall  have  been  frequently  exercised  at  stated 
times  on  these  particular  interrogatories,  that  from  the  in- 
fluence of  previous  practice  any  of  these  questions,  or  inter- 
rogatories similar  to  them,  will  be  invested  with  great  effect 
and  power  whenever  they  may  arise  in  any  of  the  more  im- 
portant and  serious  discussions  which  pertain  to  the  interests 
and  the  business  of  life. 

From  the  particular  structure  of  the  word  "  how,"  inter- 
rogatories commencing  with  that  term  of  speech,  are  qualified 
to  yield  to  the  voice  in  the  simple  act  of  pronouncing  it  on 
a  loud  key,  great  additional  reach,  depth,  rotundity  and 
fulness.  And  when  questions  commencing  with  this  word 
are  frequently  repeated  on  a  loud  key,  the  pupil  will  find 
that  the  volume  of  his  voice  has  been  perceptibly  extended 
after  the  suspension  of  the  exercise.  From  this  source 
arises  the  great  advantage  of  exercising  the  voice  at  stated 
times  by  the  frequent  repetition  of  interrogatories  com- 
mencing with  this  particular  word. 

The  word  "  why  "  as  a  starting-point  to  a  train  of  inter- 
rogatories set  apart  for  the  discipline  of  the  voice,  is  also 
calculated  to  lend  an  important  measure  of  assistance  in  the 
enterprise  of  improving  it  in  energy,  animation,  melody  and 
compass. 

The  word  "  who,"  when  coupled  with  an  interrogatory  as 
an  antecedent,  is  also  available  in  a  very  eminent  degree, 
when  loudly  and  distinctly  sounded,  in  giving  tension  to  the 
vocal  functions. 


112  VEHEMENT  DECLAMATION. 

The  words  "  what,"  "  where,"  and  "  when,"  do  not  yield 
to  the  voice  in  the  act  of  pronouncing  them,  the  same  meas- 
ure of  exercise  in  the  way  of  tension  as  the  preceding  words, 
but  they  afford,  when  frequently  repeated  as  heretofore  sug- 
gested, a  very  profitable  exercise  for  one  who  may  be  direct- 
ing his  attention  to  the  improvement  of  the  voice.  And  it 
may  be  very  justly  affirmed  that  these  terms  when  legiti- 
mately introduced  into  a  speech,  argument,  address,  or  pub- 
lic effort  of  any  description,  lend  great  additional  grace, 
animation  and  attraction  to  the  performance,  whatever  it 
may  be. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

KEEPING   THE   VOICE   ON   A   CONTINUOUS  STRAIN  OF  VEHEMENT   DECLAMATION 
DURING   THE   DELIVERY   OF   AN   ENTIRE   SPEECH,    CONSIDKRKD. 

An  address  which  may  be  delivered  from  its  commence- 
ment to  its  close  in  a  very  vehement  strain,  will  be  rare- 
ly remembered  by  an  audience  with  any  very  vivid  sen- 
sations of  pleasure.  They  may  applaud  in  the  most  mu- 
nificent manner,  the  ability  of  the  speaker,  for  that  Avill  not 
be  concealed  from  an  intelligent  assembly  of  men,  even  by 
the  repulsive  exterior  of  a  graceless  and  ungainly  delivery. 
But  they  will  never  single  out  fragments  or  parcels  of  a  dis- 
course of  this  kind,  which  they  admire  for  its  peculiar  beau- 
ties, and  hold  it  up  to  the  admiration  of  their  friends  and 
associates.  The  reason  of  this  failure  on  the  part  of  hearers 
to  seize  on  any  special  passages  in  such  a  discourse,  and  to 
honor  them  with  encomiums,  may  be  traced  to  the  fiict  that 
a  discourse  delivered  in  the  style  to  which  we  have  referred, 
has  nothing  varied  in  its  features  to  attract  the  spirit  of  ad- 
miration to  any  particular  portion  of  it.    We  do  not  find  in  a 


'  BEADING  ON  AN  ELEVATED  KEY.      113 

discourse  of  this  kind  a  patch  of  light  here,  and  a  passage  of 
shade  there,  to  make  the  picture  interesting  by  the  effect  of 
transition ;  without  anything  of  variation  about  it,  without 
any  undulations  of  surface  from  beginning  to  end,  it  presents 
the  appearance  of  a  monotonous  unit. 

An  address  to  find  a  large  degree  of  acceptancy  with  an 
assembly  must  present  elevations  and  depressions  on  its  sur- 
face, the  speaker  must  come  down  from  the  summit  of  the 
mount  at  times,  and  hold  communion  with  his  hearers  as  do- 
mestic and  social  beings.  For  if  he  keeps  his  voice  on  an  alto 
or  even  on  a  continous  strain  of  animation  throughout  the 
delivery  of  an  entire  production,  they  will  cherish  no  sympa- 
thy with  him  in  his  labors ;  the  divinest  reasoning  conducted 
with  unbroken  vehemence,  will  not  wake  a  responding  key 
in  the  bosoms  of  hearers,  and  they  will  feel  as  much  relieved 
when  such  a  discourse  is  brought  to  a  final  pause,  as  ever  any 
mathematical  class  has  been  at  the  close  of  a  tedious  lecture 
of  their  professor  before  the  black-board.  The  imagination 
of  an  audience  is  kept  on  a  continuous  stretch  by  speaking 
of  this  description.  Human  beings,  to  become  deeply  en- 
gaged by  an  argument,  sermon,  or  address,  must  have  rest 
during  its  delivery,  and  in  order  to  secure  this  object,  the 
speaker  must  come  down  occasionally  from  his  lofty  height, 
and  converse  with  his  hearers  on  the  level  plane  below. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

READING   WITH   THE   UTMOST   STRENGTH    OF   THE   VOICE,    CONSIDERED. 

In  a  succeeding  chapter,  the  daily  practice  of  reading  at 
that  elevation  of  the  voice,  which  is  usually  reached  in  an 
animated  and  rational  conversation,  has  been  suggested  to 


114      BEADING  ON  AN  ELEVATED  KEY. 

the  student,  because  it  is  desirable  that  he  should  habituate 
his  voice  by  constant  discipline  to  that  particular  key  which 
is  calculated  in  the  grave  discussions  of  life  to  produce  the 
most  natural,  persuasive,  and  effective  oratory. 

But  the  suggestion  of  that  particular  measure  of  sound  in 
reading,  has  not  been  intended  to  exclude  other  modes  of 
conducting  this  exercise.  As  a  means  of  imparting  expan- 
sion, clearness,  and  depth  of  tone  to  the  voice,  there  is 
scarcely  any  exercise  which  merits  a  profounder  share  of  at- 
tention than  reading,  when  convenient,  a  page  from  some 
speech  remarkable  for  the  brevity  and  flowing  smoothness 
of  its  sentences,  on  the  topmost  key  of  the  voice. 

This  exercise  demands  in  most  persons  a  very  severe  ex- 
ertion of  the  vocal  organs  whilst  it  may  be  in  progress,  and 
it  should  not  be  protracted  beyond  five  or  ten  minutes.  And 
notwithstanding  the  adoption  of  this  mode  of  reading  as  a 
daily  exercise  in  the  retirement  of  the  forest,  will  be  attended 
with  a  return  of  very  conspicuous  benefits  to  the  voice  of 
the  pupil,  yet  it  will  prove  amply  sufficient  for  the  purposes 
of  improvement  to  practice  in  this  way  about  three  times  in 
each  week. 

And  on  each  occasion  when  the  pupil  shall  have  prac- 
ticed himself  in  this  particular  manner,  he  should  invariably 
take  the  precaution,  after  the  lapse  of  half  an  hour  from  the 
expiration  of  the  exercise,  to  read  some  portion  of  an  author 
at  the  conversational  level  of  his  voice. 

The  object  to  be  attained  in  this  procedure  is,  the  benefi- 
cial influence  exerted  upon  the  voice  by  bringing  it  back  to 
its  natural  elevation,  immediately  after  having  been  practiced 
on  a  very  high  key.  Unless  the  voice  shall  have  been  too 
severely  strained  by  the  previous  exercise  of  reading  on  the 
alto  key,  it  will  be  found  much  more  flexible  and  easy  to 
control  in  reading  in  the  usual  and  natural  mode,  immediate- 
ly after  that  discipline,  than  at  any  other  time.  And  by 
making  the  exercise  of  moderate  reading  a  supplement  of 


READING  IN  AN  AUDIBLE  TONE.  115 

the  former,  on  every  occasion  in  which  it  shall  be  practiced, 
the  voice  will  not  only  be  shielded  by  this  precaution  from  the 
acquisition  of  any  unusually  harsh  and  vociferous  sounds  in 
speaking  and  in  conversation,  which  might  possibly  be  super- 
induced by  practicing  frequently  on  a  key  of  great  elevation, 
but  the  student  will  be  ultimately  conducted  to  an  incredible 
degree  of  facility  in  modulating  his  voice,  and  in  giving  their 
proper  measure  and  emphasis  to  words  and  sentences  in  read- 
ing. He  will  also  be  enabled,  in  this  way,  to  acquire  the 
faculty  of  giving  the  proper  elevations  and  depressions  to  the 
voice  which  may  be  demanded  in  reading  and  speaking. 
The  preceding  theory  has  been  derived  from  an  experience 
so  truthful  and  practical  as  to  entitle  it  to  the  highest  con- 
sideration. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

THE   DAILY   EXERCISE   OF   EEADING   IN   AN   AUDIBLE   TONE   OF  VOICE. 

There  is  no  branch  of  discipline,  within  the  range  of  hu- 
man attainment,  which  confers  on  the  voice  a  more  solid 
and  enduring  class  of  benefits,  than  the  daily  practice  of 
reading,  in  a  distinct  and  audible  tone,  a  judiciously  chosen 
speech,  or  a  select  chapter  from  a  book  which  may  be 
commended  for  the  smoothness  and  facility  of  its  style. 
Yet  this  important  and  effective  auxiliary  to  advancement 
in  public  speaking,  similar  to  light,  air,  water,  and  all 
other  earthly  advantages  of  easy  acquisition,  has  been  held 
in  light  estimation,  from  the  simplicity  of  its  character  and 
the  small  expenditure  of  labor  imposed  by  its  performance. 

The  habit  of  reading  daily  from  ten  to  twenty  pages  in  an 
author,  is  to  the  human  voice  what  the  daily  exercise  of  walk- 
ing is  to  the  human  frame.     The  natural  and  easy  operation 


116  BEADING  IN  AN  AUDIBLE  TONE. 

of  walking,  put  in  requisition  daily  to  a  certain  extent,  pre- 
serves the  muscles  and  sinews  of  the  body  in  that  equable 
condition  which  qualifies  a  person  for  the  J)erfect  and  vigor- 
ous execution  of  all  the  physical  duties  which  may  devolve 
upon  him  in  the  progress  of  life.  Without  professing  to 
suggest  how  wonderfully  the  appetite  and  general  health  of 
the  system  of  man  are  heightened  and  preserved  by  a  move- 
ment of  the  body  so  gentle  and  free  from  excess  as  that 
of  walking,  it  may  be  justly  asserted,  that  all  the  physical 
exercises  which  are  carried  to  the  highest  degree  of  perfec- 
tion by  the  powers  of  a  vigorous  and  elastic  frame,  such  as 
heavy  draughts  from  the  ground,  running,  jumping  and  dan- 
cing, are  chiefly  dependent  upon  the  very  simple  exercise  of 
walking.  If  this  natural  discipline  for  the  human  frame 
should  be  totally  suspended  for  a  great  length  of  time,  the 
most  active  limbs  would  become  in  a  high  degree  stiff  and 
torpid,  until  a  fresh  stock  of  flexibility  might  be  infused  into 
them  again  by  the  full  resumption  of  this  exercise. 

The  daily  exercise  of  reading  occupies  very  much  the  same 
relation  to  the  voice  which  that  of  walking  does  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  body ;  it  preserves  the  voice  in  an  equable  con- 
dition. By  subjecting  the  organs  of  speech  to  a  moderate 
exercise  daily,  it  preserves  them  in  an  open,  expanded,  and 
tuneful  condition. 

When  the  human  voice  receives  its  only  discipline  from 
that  portion  of  speaking  which  is  executed  under  the  public 
observation,  in  the  courts  of  justice  and  other  assemblies  of 
men  which  convene  for  the  transaction  of  business,  it  misses 
an  immense  harvest  of  improvement,  in  the  shape  of  intona- 
tion, emphasis,  modulation,  flexibleness  and  expansion,  which 
may  be  most  certainly  derived  from  the  daily  practice  of 
audible  reading,  in  the  closet,  or  in  the  silence  of  some  se- 
questered grove. 

When  the  business  of  speaking  shall  be  resumed  in  the 
courts  of  justice,  at  the  close  of  a  vacation  of  some  weeks. 


READING  IN  AN  AUDIBLE  TONE.  117 

and  the  voice  shall  not  have  been  exercised  during  that  inter- 
val of  time,  except  in  the  usual  colloquial  exchanges  of  life, 
it  will  inevitably  experience  that  sensible  decline  in  its  gen- 
eral powers  which  will  be  realized  by  the  human  body  when 
it  is  suddenly  summoned  to  perform  the  highest  exhibitions 
of  celerity  in  motion,  after  a  long  period  of  total  inactivity. 

To  secure  for  the  exercise  of  reading  a  regularity  and  cer- 
tainty which  will  be  utterly  beyond  the  reach  of  every  ordi- 
nary contingency,  a  student  in  elocution  should  deposit  his 
favorite  author  or  book  of  speeches  on  a  table  or  chair  by 
his  bed-side  when  he  retires  to  rest,  to  be  within  reach  of  his 
hand  when  he  awakes  with  the  light  of  returning  day.  And 
when  he  shall  have  removed  from  his  eyelids  the  leaden  clogs 
imposed  by  the  slumbers  which  have  just  passed  away,  he 
should  read  in  a  tone  of  voice  a  little  louder  than  that  of 
ordinary  conversation  about  five  pages.  When  this  duty 
shall  have  been  performed,  he  will  have  placed  the  measure 
of  improvement  derivable  from  that  particular  exercise  be- 
yond the  inroads  of  business,  the  calls  of  pleasure,  and  the 
various  accidents  which  may  possibly  consume  his  time  dur- 
ing the  day. 

But  it  is  not  sufficient  for  the  ends  of  improvement,  that  a 
speaker  or  student  should  barely  pass  through  the  formula 
of  reading  a  certain  number  of  pages.  To  satisfy  the  exalted 
aim  he  has  in  view,  in  adopting  this  mode  of  discipline,  he 
should  read  methodically,  intelligently,  and  cautiously.  He 
should,  before  he  commences  this  exercise  on  each  returning 
morning  or  day,  as  the  case  may  be,  determine  in  his  mind  to 
blend  with  the  exercise  before  him  that  which  is  his  favorite 
mode  or  style  of  enunciation,  and  which  he  intends  to  adopt 
as  his  habitual  mode  of  delivery  in  speaking,  on  the  broad 
theatre  of  life.  By  thus  daily  practicing  in  privacy,  what  he 
may  regard  as  the  most  accomplished  and  admirable  of  all 
modes  of  delivery,  he  may  ultimately  succeed  in  reducing 
that  particular  style  of  delivery  so  effectually  and  perma- 


118  READING  IN  AN  AUDIBLE  TONK 

mently  into  his  possession,  when  speaking  amidst  the  divers- 
ified business  engagements  of  the  world,  that  nothing  will 
sever  it  from  the  aggregate  of  his  accomplishments. 

It  has  been  heretofore  affirmed,  in  the  course  of  these 
commentaries,  that  a  speaker  can  call  up  and  fix  in  his  mind 
his  favorite  mode  of  speaking  a  speech,  when  he  is  at  the 
point  of  commencing  an  argument,  just  as  a  practical  vocalist 
may  be  competent  to  bring  up  from  the  resources  of  his 
musical  knowledge,  when  he  is  about  to  commence  a  hymn 
or  song,  that  particular  tune  which  he  prefers  singing  in  con- 
nection with  the  song  or  hymn  before  him.  But  that  degree 
of  accuracy  and  promptness,  in  regulating  and  in  controlling 
sounds,  which  may  enable  a  person  to  determine  mentally 
the  particular  style  in  which  he  shall  deliver  a  speech  or  sing 
a  hymn  which  is  before  him ;  and  which  will  not  only  qual- 
ify him  to  select  this  mode  mentally,  but  will  also  empower 
him  to  transfer  it  to  the  exercise  of  speaking  or  singing,  when 
he  commences  either,  requires  long  and  persevering  practice 
either  in  a  speaker  or  singer.  And  to  render  this  faculty  a 
personal  appendage  of  a  speaker,  so  as  to  hang  constantly  at 
his  side,  that  he  may  use  it  with  the  same  degree  of  facility 
that  he  uses  his  pocket  knife,  there  is  no  species  of  discipline 
so  simple,  attainable,  and  effective,  as  that  of  daily  reading. 

When  a  student,  on  commencing  his  daily  exercise  in 
reading,  shall  have  fixed  in  his  mind  the  particular  style  of 
delivery  in  which  he  shall  read  the  pages  before  him,  he 
should  then  commence  reading  at  an  elevation  of  the  voice 
scarcely  above  that  level  of  sound  which  may  be  regarded 
as  audible  or  intelligible  to  persons  sitting  in  the  same  room. 
From  this  starting  point  he  should  gradually  raise  the  voice 
until  it  shall  attain  that  compass  of  sound  which  usually 
characterizes  an  animated  conversation  in  the  well-regulated 
circles  of  society.  When  the  voice  shall  reach  t;his  pitch  of 
elevation,  the  student  should  keep  it  there  until  the  close  of 
his  lesson,  with  such  occasional  elevations  or  depressions  as 


BEADING  IN  AN  AUDIBLE  TONE.  119 

may  be  demanded  by  the  character  and  nature  of  the  partic- 
ular production  he  may  be  engaged  in  reading. 

The  student  should  also  yield  the  most  devout  share  of  at- 
tention in  prosecuting  this  exercise  to  accentuation  and  em- 
phasis. With  an  imperfect  execution  of  this  branch  of  a 
speaker  or  reader's  duties,  the  most  elegant  and  spirited 
production  which  ever  dropped  from  a  human  pen,  may  de- 
scend in  futile  sounds  upon  the  ear  of  a  hearer.  With  a 
total  absence  of  these  grand  essentials  to  agreeable  and  in- 
telligent reading  or  speaking,  the  best  and  most  intellectual 
productions  on  earth  are  converted  into  the  most  unmitigated 
nonsense.  But  from  the  practical  and  masterly  blending  of 
these  sterling  accompaniments  with  reading  and  speaking, 
there  flows  a  degree  of  power  at  times  which  moves  both 
assemblies  and  nations  of  men  with  the  power  of  an  earth- 
quake. 

In  the  preceding  views  presented  in  this  chapter,  the  quan- 
tity of  matter  contained  in  five  ordinary  pages  was  prescribed 
for  the  morning  exercise  of  the  student  in  reading,  not  for 
the  purpose  of  arbitrarily  tying  him  down  to  that  specific 
amount,  but  because  of  the  great  convenience  connected  with 
the  operation  conducted  in  that  particular  shape.  Five  pages 
is  a  lesson  in  reading  sufficiently  extended  to  aflbrd  a  bene- 
ficial exercise  to  the  voice,  and  not  so  long  as  to  conflict  with 
the  performance  of  other  duties.  The  morning  has  been 
suggested  as  the  most  eligible  period  for  taking  the  opening 
lesson  of  the  day,  because  the  voice  is  in  a  condition  in  the 
morning,  from  the  repose  of  the  previous  night,  to  be 
more  easily  moulded  and  tuned  to  the  will  of  its  possessor, 
than  at  any  other  portion  of  the  day ;  because  it  will  then 
be  apt  to  retain  through  the  day  the  particular  intonation 
which  it  yields  under  the  influence  of  exercise  at  that  time, 
because  a  pupil  will  be  more  apt  to  enjoy  the  morning 
free  from  all  external  interruption  and  intrusion,  than  any 
other  part  of  the  day ;  and  because  when  an  exercise  shall  be 


120  READING  IN  A  SUBDUED  TONE. 

taken  early  in  the  morning,  a  benefit  is  thus  secured  for  the 
student  on  that  particular  day,  which  cannot  be  taken  away 
from  him  by  subsequent  incidents  which  may  happen  in  it. 
He  is  neither  confined  by  the  views  presented  in  this  chapter 
to  a  lesson  of  five  pages,  nor  is  he  restricted  exclusively  to 
reading  in  the  morning.  He  may  read  in  addition  to  his 
morning  exercise,  in  any  portion  of  the  day  he  pleases,  and 
he  may  read  as  many  pages  as  he  pleases.  But  let  him  be 
sure  not  to  permit  the  day  to  close,  when  he  can  avoid  it, 
without  taking  a  lesson  of  some  length. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

THE    PRACTICE   OF   READING    IN   A   TONE   OF   VOICE   SCARCELY   AUDIBLE. 

A  FREQUENT  adoptiou  of  the  practice  of  reading  in  a  tone 
of  voice  so  low  as  to  be  scarcely  audible  to  those  who 
may  be  sitting  in  the  same  room  with  the  person  engaged 
in  reading,  is  strongly  commended  to  the  attention  of  a  pupil 
in  elocution,  from  the  peculiar  efficacy  of  this  exercise  in 
qualifying  the  human  voice  for  the  utterance  of  those  sounds 
in  public  speaking  which  may  be  characterized  by  an  unusual 
degree  of  softness  and  delicacy. 

The  adaptation  of  this  particular  exercise  to  the  production 
of  the  effect  just  ascribed  to  it,  may  be  realized  in  the  supe- 
rior expertness  in  picking  up  and  handling  very  minute  ob- 
jects, which  is  acquired  by  persons  whose  daily  business 
renders  it  necessary  for  them  often  to  remove  such  objects 
of  traffic  from  one  place  to  another,  in  a  store  or  workshop, 
by  the  application  of  the  fingers.  Persons  whose  sense  of 
touch  has  been  sharpened  by  constantly  picking  up  small 
and  minute  particles  of  any  substance,  will  pick  up  such 


READING  IN  A  SUBDUED  TONE.       121 

particles  from  the  surface  of  a  counter  or  t-able,  with  the 
same  degree  of  celerity  with  which  a  half  famished  fowl 
will  pick  up  a  grain  of  corn  from  the  floor,  whilst  unprao- 
ticed  fingers  may  make  several  blundering  eflbrts  to  ac- 
complish the  same  object,  and  fail  at  last.  A  person  whose 
vision  has  been  constantly  trained  in  the  prosecution  of 
any  scientific  or  mechanical  pursuit,  to  the  discovery  and 
inspection  of  grains  of  any  chemical  or  metallic  substance, 
which  may  be  scarcely  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  will  possess 
an  incalculable  advantage  over  eyes  unpracticed  in  the  same 
way  in  searching  for  small  objects  in  the  common  routine 
of  human  pursuits. 

The  voice  which  has  been  patiently  and  perseveringly 
practiced  in  reading  on  a  key  which  is  but  a  few  degrees 
raised  above  the  level  of  an  ordinary  whisper,  or  at  farthest, 
to  a  pitch  of  sound  which  may  be  regarded  as  being  vocal  in 
its  character  only  so  far  as  to  be  distinctly  audible  to  the 
reader  himself,  will  acquire,  in  uttering  soft,  gentle,  and  del- 
icate sounds  and  tones  in  speaking,  an  indefinite  advantage 
over  a  voice  undisciplined  in  a  similar  manner.  The  voice 
in  being  regularly  trained  to  the  enunciation  of  scarcely  au- 
dible sounds,  will  acquire  the  same  promptness  in  articulating 
such  sounds,  when  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  voice  to  pro- 
duce them  again,  which  is  attained  in  picking  up  minute  ob- 
jects by  fingers  habitually  practiced  in  handling  objects  of 
the  kind,  or  as  may  be  reached  in  the  search  for  almost  im- 
palpable objects,  by  a  vision  which  has  been  long  accustomed 
to  the  examination  and  observation  of  such  objects. 

It  will  be  almost  impracticable  for  a  voice  which  has  been 
accustomed  exclusively  to  the  enunciation  of  loud  sounds,  to 
descend  to  those  of  a  soft  and  delicate  character,  when  such 
intonations  may  be  required  in  speaking.  And  the  destitu- 
tion of  this  faculty  will  frequently  prove  a  serious  impedi- 
ment to  the  growth  and  perfection  of  a  speaker's  usefulness, 
Influence  and  success.    For  it  often  becomes  necessary,  merely 

6 


122  THE  MOST  SUITABLE  GESTURES. 

for  the  purpose  of  guarding  against  the  blight  of  monotony 
in  the  delivery  of  a  speech,  to  descend  to  a  very  low  key. 
It  is  almost  invariably  requisite  that  a  speaker  should  pitch 
his  voice  on  a  very  moderate  key  in  the  commencement  of 
a  speech,  to  the  end  that  he  may  by  the  gradual  expansion 
of  the  voice,  as  the  speech  progresses,  be  enabled  when  he 
reaches  the  merits  of  his  subject,  to  command  just  that  spe- 
cific measure  of  sound  which  is  proper  and  no  more.  It  is 
very  frequently  demanded  of  a  speaker,  to  let  his  voice  de- 
scend to  a  level  of  sound  which  is  scarcely  audible  to  his 
hearers,  when  he  is  giving  vent  to  very  peculiar  emotions, 
or  indulging  in  the  expression  of  some  particular  sentiment. 
And  it  is  apparent  to  the  miost  inexperienced  observers  of 
the  business  of  public  speaking,  that  to  give  the  required 
effect  to  many  sentences  which  occur  in  arguments  and 
speeches,  it  is  imperative  upon  the  speaker  to  let  his  voice 
descend  at  the  close  of  such  sentences. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI 


THB   SUBJECT   OK   GESTICULATION. 


It  is  very  far  from  hieing  a  problem,  the  solution  of  which 
has  been  so  clear  as  to  place  the  matter  beyond  all  cavil, 
that  there  is  any  precise  class  of  gestures  which  a  speaker 
should  use  in  performing  the  duty  of  speaking,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  others.  Any  motion  of  the  person  or  hand,  which 
is  free,  full  and  flexible,  and  made  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
correspond  with  an  idea  or  sentiment  which  has  been  ex- 
pressed at  the  time,  will  serve  in  some  degree  to  augment 
the  attraction  of  the  speaker. 

The  great  impediment  to  completeness  which  one  should 


THE  MOST  SUITABLE  GESTURES.  128 

guard  against  in  making  a  gesture,  is  that  broken,  cramped, 
and  restricted  way  of  gesticulating,  which  gives  to  the  arm 
of  the  speakef  the  appearance  of  being  regulated  in  its  mo- 
tions by  a  string  or  wire,  that  is  pulled  by  some  invisible 
agent.  The  elbow  looks  in  these  cases  as  if  it  might  be 
pinioned  to  the  side  of  the  person  speaking,  for  his  arm,  in 
the  process  of  gesticulation,  is  never  moved  in  advance  of 
the  person,  with  an  easy  and  extended  sweep  ;  but  in  its  ac- 
tion presents  the  appearance  of  being  fettered  or  clogged, 
and  each  of  its  motions  will  appear  to  be  by  jerks  and  out 
of  time,  similar  to  the  motions  of  a  dancer  who  does  not 
move  in  unison  with  the  music,  or  like  the  stroke  of  a  paddle 
aimed  at  a  ball,  in  any  game  where  such  an  article  is  used, 
after  the  ball  has  passed. 

The  gestures  which  we  have  just  described  may,  in  the 
case  of  an  unpracticed  speaker,  result  from  inexperience  or 
diffidence.  For  when  the  limbs  and  person  of  a  speaker  have 
not  been  trained  and  disciplined  in  the  graces  of  motion,  he 
will  not,  in  every  instance,  spontaneously  contract  a  facile 
and  graceful  mode  of  action  at  the  commencement  of  his 
career  as  a  speaker.  And  if  a  speaker,  at  the  threshold 
of  life,  should  be  afflicted  by  a  large  stock  of  timidity, 
his  action  and  movements,  both  in  speaking  and  in  social 
intercourse  with  strangers,  where  he  may  not  be  perfectly  at 
ease,  will  be  cramped  and  restricted  by  his  feelings  of  self- 
distrust. 

Butjhe  obvious  source  of  imperfect  and  labored  gesticula- 
tion in  speaking,  may  be  usually  recognized  in  the  want  of 
flexibility  and  softness  in  the  voice  of  the  speaker  himself  at 
the  time.  Every  one  who  speaks  will  be  enabled  to  collect 
a  sufficient  fund  of  knowledge,  from  his  past  experience,  to 
assure  him  that  whenever  he  has  spoken  at  any  time  with 
the  voice  in  proper  tune,  that  he  has  been  able  to  gesticulate 
with  perfect  ease,  and  that  when,  on  the  contrary,  the  voice 
has  been  harsh,  contracted,  or  unyielding  in  any  of  its  organs, 


124  THE  MOST  SUITABLE  GESTURES. 

that  the  gestures  have  been  labored,  broken,  and  ungrace- 
fiil.  This  perpetual  sympathy  which  exists  between  the 
organs  of  speech  and  the  organs  of  motion,lJf  they  may 
be  so  den  ominated,ye veals  the  imperious  necessity  of  sub- 
jecting the  voice  to  such  a  constant  discipline/if  it  should 
require  it,  jas  will  tend  to  preserve  complete  harmony  be- 
tween the  "exertion  of  the  organs  of  speech  and  the  action  of 
the  hands. 

In  regard  to  the  precise  motions  which  a  speaker  must 
execute  with  his  hand  whilst  he  is  speaking,  it  may  be  safely 
said  that  any  full  or  extended  motion  of  the  arm  or  hand 
which  he  chooses  to  indulge,  will  be,  in  some  degree,  an 
auxiliary  to  the  work  in  which  he  is  engaged. 

When  a  speaker  is  commencing  a  speech,  he  may  fold 
his  arms  across  his  breast,  and  keep  them  in  that  condition 
until  an  increasing  animation,  inspired  by  the  subject,  may 
dictate  the  act  of  changing  their  position  by  moving  them 
forward  in  gesticulation.  The  precaution  of  folding  the 
arms  across  the  breast,  has  been  suggested  at  the  beginning 
of  a  speech,  because  a  speaker  frequently  feels  ill  at  ease 
then  from  the  fact  of  his  arms  dangling  loose  at  his  sides 
without  any  employment.  Any  other  posture  which  may 
serve  to  place  the  hands  and  arms  at  ease,  will  answer  as 
well  as  folding  them  together,  such  as  holding  a  book  or 
paper  in  the  hand,  or  keeping  the  hands  themselves  folded 
together  in  front  of  the  speaker. 

One  mode  of  using  the  hands  in  the  article  of  speaking,  by 
some  persons,  is  to  keep  both  arms  extended  beyond  the 
person  during  the  delivery  of  an  entire  address  or  speech, 
keeping  both  hands  moving  slightly  upwards  and  downwards, 
or  both  inclining  to  the  right  or  the  left,  as  inclination  or 
propriety  may  prompt.  In  this  gesture  the  elbow  may  rest 
on  the  side,  or  it  may  project  an  inch  or  two  beyond  the  side, 
with  each  arm  extending  in  a  straight  line  beyond  the  person, 
except  when  moved  upwards  or  downwards,  or  turned  to  the 


THE  MOST  SUITABLE  GESTURES.  125 

right  or  the  left,  as  has  just  been  suggested.  This  mode  of 
using  the  hands,  when  executed  with  skill,  is  a  mode  of  ges- 
ticulation which  presents  the  blended  advantages  of  grace 
and  dignity  both. 

There  is  another  mode  of  gesticulating  which  has  presented 
itself  with  peculiar  attraction  in  the  persons  of  some  speakers 
of  very  high  distinction.  It  is  one  which  is  exceedingly  sim- 
ple in  its  character,  and  may  be  acquired  with  perfect  ease. 
It  is  left  to  the  speaking  world  to  adopt  or  reject  it,  as  their 
interest  or  pleasure  may  dictate.  This  gesture  is  compre- 
hended in  the  act  of  keeping  the  left  arm  extended  from  the 
elbow  beyond  the  person,  with  the  palm  of  the  left  hand 
uppermost  and  exposed,  and  keeping  the  right  hand  moving 
gently  upwards  and  downwards  across  the  palm  of  the  left 
hand,  sometimes  a  little  elevated  above,  and  sometimes 
brought  in  contact  with  it,  except  when  both  hands  are 
temporarily  separated  to  make  some  more  emphatic  ges- 
ture. 

A  very  effective  gesture  may  also  be  produced  by  closing 
all  the  fingers  on  each  hand  except  the  front  finger,  and  after 
the  left  arm  shall  be  extended  beyond  the  person  from  the 
elbow,  then  to  bring  the  front  finger  of  the  right  hand  imme- 
diately across  the  same  finger  of  the  left  hand.  This  gesture 
is  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  invoking  a  specific  degree  of 
attention  in  behalf  of  any  particular  feet  or  principle  which 
the  speaker  may  be  submitting  at  the  time.  The  speaker 
should  bring  it  up  quickly,  too,  and  not  resort  to  it  in  a 
drowsy  manner,  for  it  is  intended  to  be  an  animating  ges- 
ture, and  it  is  one  which  is  usually  adopted  when  the  speaker 
becomes  somewhat  fired  by  his  subject. 

There  is  another  gesture  which  may  be  practiced  with 
considerable  effect,  when  the  speaker  wishes  to  draw  an 
emphatic  degree  of  attention  to  any  special  principle  or  fact, 
and  that  is  the  act  of  bringing  the  front  finger  of  the  right 
hand,  with  the  rest  folded  up,  in  contact  with  the  table 


126  THE  MOST  SUITABLE  GESTUKES. 

before  him,  and  to  touch  and  retouch  the  table  with  this  fin- 
ger, in  order  to  specify  and  single  out,  especially,  the  point 
he  may  be  enforcing  at  the  time. 

There  is  another  gesture  which  is  adopted  by  distinguished 
reasoners,  occasionally,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  a  pointed 
share  of  attention  to  any  pending  proposition,  and  that  is  to 
bring  the  front  finger  to  a  perpendicular  across  the  lips  of 
the  speaker,  while  he  is  discoursing.  This  is  a  favorite  ges- 
ture of  Bishop  Timon  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

It  is  not  uncommon  with  some  speakers  to  run  the  left 
hand  under  the  right  breast  of  the  vest,  and  to  keep  it  there 
during  the  greater  portion  of  an  argument,  whilst  they  keep 
the  right  hand,  at  the  same  time,  constantly  engaged  in 
gesticulation.  This  mode  of  disposing  of  the  hands,  may , 
be  well  enough  atmny  time,  but  the  chief  grace  which  com- 
mends it  to  the  use  of  the  student  is  derivable  purely  from 
the  special  share  of  beauty  with  which  this  passage  of  action 
■may  be  conducted  by  any  particular  speaker. 

Another  way  in  which  the  hands  may  be  disposed  of,  dur- 
ing the  delivery  of  a  speech  or  argument,  is,  after  bring- 
ing the  elbow  of  the  left  arm  to  an  angle  with  the  person, 
to  rest  the  inner  portion  of  the  thumb  of  the  left  hand  upon 
the  left  hip,  and  to  gesticulate  with  the  right  hand.  This 
mode  of  action  may  be  at  times  resorted  to,  and  so  may 
that  of  putting  both  hands  in  that  position  which  is  called 
"  akimbo ;"  but  in  usual  acceptation  these  modes  of  action 
are  strongly  objectionable,  if  indulged  habitually,  for  they 
present  the  impression  of  vanity,  bravado,  and  a  redundant 
stock  of  self-esteem  on  the  part  of  the  speaker. 

Another  gesture  frequently  resorted  to,  especially  by  nerv- 
ous speakers,  when  they  become  considerably  excited  in  a  dis- 
cussion, is  to  keep  the  right  hand  elevated  all  the  time,  with  the 
palm  downwards,  and  the  hand  constantly  preserved  in  a  trem- 
ulous motion,  like  the  fluttering  of  a  leaf  agitated  by  a  breeze. 
There  is  nothing  to  be  particularly  commended  or  condemn- 


THE  MOST  SUITABLE   GESTUEES.  127 

ed  in  this  gesture,  for  though  it  may  indicate  animation  and 
energy,  it  is  destitute  of  grace  and  ease. 

Another  mode  of  conducting  the  process  of  gesticulation 
by  some  speakers,  is  to  keep  each  hand  alternately  in  mo- 
tion during  the  business  of  speaking,  and  sometimes  both  at 
the  same  time.  This  method  of  action,  when  executed  with 
entire  ease,  is  about  as  perfect  as  any  which  may  be  acquir- 
ed by  a  speaker,  because  neither  hand  seems  to  be  paralyzed 
or  bound  to  the  side  of  the  speaker,  all  the  time  he  is  speak- 
ing, from  the  fact  of  being  idle.  Both  hands,  from  the  fact  of 
being  alternately  used  in  the  work  of  gesticulating,  become 
trained  in  such  a  way  as  to  execute  their  work  with  an  equal 
degree  of  expertness,  and  that  in  the  proper  place ;  and 
when  they  are  both  employed  in  the  work  of  making  ges- 
tures, the  action  of  the  speaker  will  be  proportionally  more 
animated  and  effective. 

Another  source  from  which  a  speaker  occasionally  derives 
a  vast  accession  to  the  effect  of  his  delivery,  is,  from  holding 
a  paper  connected  with  his  subject  in  his  hand,  or  a  book  of 
authorities  before  him,  and  by  gracefully  pointing  to  and 
reading  from  the  paper,  or  book,  as  the  case  may  be.  This 
exercise  arms  the  speaker  with  the  weight  derived  from  a 
printed  and  solemn  authority  to  support  him,  and  gives  him 
for  the  time  what  may  be  termed  an  air  of  erudition; 
but  the  chief  attraction  derived  from  it  is  the  fact  of  inter- 
spersing the  act  of  speaking  with  a  legitimate  sort  of  variety, 
every  instance  of  which  relieves  to  some  extent  the  exercise 
in  which  he  is  engaged. 

But  the  matter  of  gesticulation  and  of  action  at  large  must 
be  regulated  so  much  by  the  subject  which  is  in  the  progress 
of  discussion,  by  the  occasion,  and  by  the  sentiment  intend- 
ed to  be  enforced  by  any  given  gesture,  that  it  must  always 
prove  a  difficult  task  to  classify  gestures  so  as  to  give  them 
a  personal  identity  which  will  enable  a  reader  unerringly  to 


128  THE  MOST  SUITABLE  GESTURES. 

recognize  them,  from  the  accuracy  of  delineation  containtsd 
in  any  written  description. 

The  student  will  acquire  infinitely  more  knowledge  in  re- 
lation to  the  graces  and  the  sterner  properties  of  action  from 
an  intelligent  observation  of  the  most  finished  speakers  of 
his  time,  than  from  any  arbitrary  rules  compiled  on  the  sub- 
ject. He  may  take  the  mode  of  action  which  he  has  imper. 
ceptibly  blended  with  the  business  of  speaking  himself,  and 
add  to  his  treasury  of  graces  other  attractive  qualities  and  pas- 
sages which  he  may  have  noticed  in  the  best  models  within 
the  sphere  of  his  observation ;  or  he  may  adopt  for  his  mod- 
el the  style  of  some  highly-approved  master  in  action,  and 
graft  upon  the  style  thus  selected  efi*ective  passages  from  the 
gesticulation  of  other  patterns,  as  they  occur  to  his  observa- 
tion. 

It  may  be  regarded  as  a  safe  proposition,  in  concluding  this 
chapter,  that  a  speaker  should  never  hammer  the  benches  be- 
fore him  with  his  fist,  nor  should  he  beat  out  the  unofiending 
brains  of  the  books  against  the  tables,  because  he  has  been 
unable  to  beat  into  liis  own  brains  the  contents  of  the  books. 
George  McDuflSe  used  to  indulge  in  this  method  of  yielding 
peculiar  force  to  his  views  of  a  subject ;  and  it  is  also  said 
that  he  used  to  stamp  with  his  feet  at  a  terrible  rate.  But 
there  was  a  muscular  power  of  thought  and  a  volcanic  fervor 
of  imagination  in  McDuflTie's  composition  which  disarmed 
these  deformities  of  action  and  of  manner  in  him  of  their  usual 
revolting  tendency.  This  tempestous  sort  of  manner  appears 
very  contemptible  though  in  a  speaker  who  possesses  neithei 
heat  nor  vigor. 


THE  ART  OF  PEONUNOIATION.  129 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

THE   ART   OF    PRONOUNCING   ACCURATELY,    ITS   GRACES   AND    ADVANTAGES. 

The  faculty  of  pronouncing  with  punctilious  and  graceful 
accuracy,  is  a  resource  to  a  public  speaker  which  cannot  be 
too  highly  appreciated.  It  lends  a  charm  to  public  discourse 
which  is  just  as  conspicuous  as  that  engaging  quality  in  a 
musician,  which  enables  him  to  yield  each  note  in  a  musical 
composition  in  full  melody,  time,  and  measure.  In  point  of 
influence,  the  blandishments  which  are  thrown  around  lan- 
guage by  the  art  of  pronunciation,  are  infinitely  more  en- 
during than  the  most  enchanting  strains  of  music  which  ever 
descended  upon  the  human  ear. 

The  simple  fact  of  pronouncing  words  with  such  a  faint 
approximation  to  correctness,  as  to  avoid  animadversion, 
does  not  form  a  point  for  repose  at  which  a  speaker  should 
suspend  his  exertions  in  search  of  improvement.  A  degree 
of  accuracy  of  the  kind  just  mentioned,  ought  rather  to  con- 
stitute a  level  from  which  he  should  ascend  to  loftier  grades 
of  excellence.  And  though  it  may  not  be  the  destiny  of  frail 
and  feeble  humanity  to  reach  perfection,  it  should  certainly  be 
the  unceasing  aspiration  of  a  speaker  to  approach  and  deserve 
that  lofty  elevation. 

•  The  person  whose  life  may  be  devoted  in  a  large  degree 
to  the  business  of  public  speaking,  should  cease  to  speculate 
concerning  the  advantages  of  a  finished  pronunciation,  when 
he  reflects  that  Lord  Chatham,  in  whose  memory  Britain 
glories  as  the  most  radiant  ornament  of  her  past  history, 
kept  a  dictionary  constantly  within  his  reach,  for  J;wo  im- 
portant purposes ;  the  one  of  which  was  to  ensure  to  every 
word  he  uttered  in  debate,  a  pronunciation  of  incontestable 
accuracy,  and  the  other  of  which  was  to  enable  him  to  select 

6* 


180  THE  ART  OP  PRONUNCIATION. 

those  words  which  would  best  express  the  idea  which  he 
wished  to  convey.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  observe  that 
Lord  Chatham  stands  on  the  extended  path  of  centuries,  al- 
most without  a  rival,  in  both  the  music  and  the  electric 
power  of  his  language. 

But  the  public  speaker  is  not  only  enlightened  in  the  art 
of  pronunciation,  by  the  faithful  counsels  which  flow  from 
the  best  dictionaries  on  that  subject,  he  has  within  his 
reach  the  most  gifted  and  accomplished  scholars  of  the  age, 
whose  voices  in  the  management  of  words,  distil  the  classic 
music  which  charmed  Athens  in  the  perfection  of  her  cul- 
ture, and  Rome  in  the  palmy  periods  of  her  renown.  He  has 
before  him  the  crowning  graces  in  the  department  of  pro- 
nunciation, which  embellish  the  oratory  of  the  most  finished 
speakers  that  his  country  may  boast.  He  is  provided  in 
rich  profusion  with  decisive  opinions  on  this  subject,  which 
are  securely  treasured  up  in  the  printed  wisdom  of  the  world. 
And  in  addition  to  these  bright  and  faithful  auxiliaries  to 
the  illumination  of  his  judgment,  and  to  the  perfection  of  his 
taste,  he  has  at  command  his  own  conceptions  of  music  and 
measure  to  assist  him  in  clearing  his  pronunciation  of  every 
asperity  and  defect. 

It  may  be  justly  affirmed  of  a  correct  and  graceful  pro- 
nunciation, that  it  is  certain  to  ensure  a  grateful  and  flatter- 
ing reception  to  solid  reasoning,  clothed  in  the  garniture  of 
elegant  diction.  But  it  wins  its  way  to  loftier  achievements 
than  this  on  the  field  of  intellectual  aspiration,  it  is  al- 
most certain  to  invest  with  the  deceptive  glare  of  artificial 
beauty,  matter  of  an  indifferent  and  ephemeral  character.  It 
is  frequently  affirmed  of  distinguished  speakers,  that  they 
possess  the  faculty  of  making  very  poor  matter  sound  hand- 
somely. 

It  rarely  happens  that  an  orator  of  abounding  attractions 
presents  himself  before  an  audience  in  the  delivery  of  a 
speech,  without  engaging  a  marked  share  of  attention  on  ao- 


THE  AKT  OF  PRONUNCIATION.  131 

count  of  the  inimitable  beauty  with  which  he  pronounces 
some  particular  words.  After  the  delivery  of  a  speech  has 
been  closed  by  a  speaker  of  extended  celebrity,  we  frequently 
hear  the  exclamation, — Oh  how  delectably  he  pronounced 
some  specified  word.  How  did  he  manage  to  invest  it  with 
so  much  beauty  1  Because  he  yielded  his  patient  devotions 
to  the  particular  word,  and  to  all  the  elements  of  the  Eng- 
lish language.  O  how  delightfully  a  certain  musician  sounded 
the  softer  notes  in  his  performance.  By  what  means  did  he 
succeed  in  distilling  such  delicious  melodies  from  his  instru- 
ment ^  The  question  may  be  answered  by  affirming  that 
the  musician  was  enabled  to  draw  the  bewitching  melodies 
from  his  lips  or  his  instrument,  by  the  same  process  by 
which  the  accomplished  speaker  is  enabled  to  deliver  his 
words  in  a  dress  of  graceful  music,  to  the  ears  of  an  audi- 
ence, by  having  repeated  the  notes  of  enchantment  over  and 
over,  without  limitation,  in  the  solitude  of  retirement. 

A  speaker  of  merited  celebrity  might  deliver  speeches 
wherever  the  English  language  is  used  as  a  medium  of 
thought,  and  his  pronunciation  would  be  honored  with  the 
most  grateful  applause  at  every  locality  which  would  resound 
with  his  voice.  For  a  marked  superiority  in  the  art  of  pro- 
nunciation, is  one  of  the  chief  sinews  of  an  orator's  power. 
He  speaks  with  effect,  because  he  pronounces  well,  and  it 
may  be  almost  as  appropriately  said,  that  he  pronounces 
well,  because  he  speaks  with  effect. 

There  are  certain  words  which  are  articulated  in  such 
tremulous  and  delicious  tones  of  beauty,  by  some  accom- 
plished speakers,  that  the  sound  of  these  words,  instead -of 
fading  from  the  memory  of  the  hearer,  continues  to  linger 
upon  the  ear,  even  to  the  gates  of  death.  But_  those  special 
words  which  descend  upon  the  ear  like  strains  of  the  richest 
music,  may  be  appropriately  compared  to  the  brighter  tints 
upon  a  cheek  of  unmingled  beauty.  These  particular  words 
engage  the  admiration  of  a  listener,  not  because  the  great 


132  THE  ABT  OF  PRONUNCIATION. 

mass  of  language  uttered  by  a  finished  speaker  is  imperfectly 
sounded,  but  because  the  striking  words  ascend  some  per- 
ceptible shades  higher  in  the  scale  of  excellence,  than  the 
other  elements  which  compose  the  structure  of  language  with 
which  they  are  blended. 

Each  word  which  entered  into  the  composition  of  a  dis- 
course delivered  by  a  classic  and  polished  speaker,  mighc  be 
taken  singly,  and  scanned  as  units  in  connection  with  the 
most  approved  standards  of  pronunciation,  and  the  fact  would 
be  explicitly  revealed,  that  these  words  had  been,  without 
exception,  pronounced  with  a  share  of  skill  and  accuracy 
which  would  have  reflected  lustre  on  any  ordinary  speaker. 

It  often  happens  that  persons  in  the  very  maturity  of  their 
experience,  by  listening  to  the  more  finished  masters  of  the 
English  language,  are  inducted  into  the  art  of  pronouncing 
words  so  as  to  yield  a  musical  enunciation,  which  they  had 
loathed  through  life,  from  an  inability  to  sound  them  in  a 
smooth  and  grateful  manner.  Many  of  the  proper  names, 
both  in  biblical  and  profane  history,  produce  an  exceedingly 
uncouth  and  repulsive  sound  when  they  drop  from  the  lips 
of  a  novice.  But  these  words  are  as  completely  divested  of 
every  shade  of  asperity,  when  they  emanate  from  classic  lips, 
as  the  diamond  when  delivered  from  its  native  excrescences 
by  the  polish  of  the  artist. 

As  an  accurate  pronunciation  appears  to  constitute  one  of 
the  most  engaging  ornaments  of  the  business  of  speaking,  the 
votary  of  that  ostensible  art  will  not  be  likely  to  devote  too 
large  an  expenditure  of  time  to  its  acquisition.  He  should 
not  only  consult  the  most  authoritative  dictionaries  on  this 
subject,  but  he  should  converse  with  men  of  classic  taste  and 
discrimination  in  the  construction  of  language.  He  should 
yield  a  sincere  and  fervent  measure  of  devotion  to  the  most 
elegant  and  accomplished  speakers  who  may  come  within  the 
sphere  of  his  observation.  And  he  should  exercise  himselfj 
in  his  more  retired  moments,  in  sounding  words  in  a  variety 


THE  CLEAE  AETICULATION  OF  WOEDS.  183 

of  modes,  just  as  a  person  devoted  to  music  sounds  his  notes 
in  different  ways,  to  ascertain  by  practice  which  method  of 
sounding  will  yield  the  sweetest  melody. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE   ADVANTAGES   WHICH   RESULT   FROM.   A    CLEAR   ARTICULATION   OF  WORDS 
BY    A   SPEAKER. 

A  VERY  classic  and  elegant  writer  has  remarked  that  words 
in  just  articulation,  "  are  delivered  from  the  lips,  as  beautiful 
coins  newly  issued  from  the  mint,  deeply  and  accurately  im- 
pressed, perfectly  finished,  neatly  struck  by  the  proper  or- 
gans, distinct,  sharp,  in  due  proportion,  and  of  proper 
weight." 

An  attempt  to  improve  on  a  delineation  possessing  so  much 
graphic  beauty  as  that  which  has  been  quoted  in  the  preced- 
ing lines,  may  possibly  involve  an  useless  consumption  of 
time.  It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  the  contrast  which 
is  exhibited  between  a  perfect  and  a  defective  articulation  of 
language,  is  equally  as  glaring  as  that  which  is  presented 
between  the  sound  of  two  bells,  the  one  of  which  gives  out 
clear  and  glassy  tones,  and  the  other  confused  and  lumbering 
notes.  And  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  an  illustration  of 
the  difference  which  exists  between  perfect  and  imperfect 
articulation,  which  will  keep  them  perfectly  distinct  from 
each  other  in  the  contemplation  of  a  speaker,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  line  of  distinction  between  the  two  modes  of  execu- 
tion is  as  broadly  marked  as  that  which  exists  between  two 
pictures,  the  one  of  which  presents  every  person,  object  and 
plant,  in  a  state  of  clear  and  beautiful  definition,  whilst  the 
other  yields  its  representations  to  the  eye  in  a  jumble  of 
confusion. 


184  THE   CLEAR  ARTICULATION  OF  WORDS. 

Another  chapter  in  these  commentaries  has  been  distinctly 
appropriated  to  the  subject  of  pronunciation.  And  it  may 
be  justly  remarked  in  this  connection,  that  the  faculties  of  pro- 
nunciation and  articulation  are  so  intimately  blended  in  the 
offices  which  they  perform  in  the  business  of  speaking,  that 
it  requires  a  share  of  acute  discrimination  to  preserve  with 
perfect  uniformity  the  boundaries  between  them  with  the 
requisite  measure  of  distinctness. 

The  difference  which  exists  between  the  pronunciation  and 
the  articulation  of  words,  consists  in  this :  a  speaker  may 
possess  a  very  intelligent  apprehension  of  the  pronunciation 
of  words,  and  he  may  very  perspicuously  show  this  to  his 
hearers  by  marking  in  some  degree  the  proper  points  for 
accentuation  which  occur  in  the  words  which  he  utters.  But 
if  there  be  any  natural  or  acquired  defect  in  the  organs  of 
speech,  for  instance,  if  the  voice  be  exceedingly  unmanage- 
able, or  if  the  palate  should  be  gone,  a  person  in  this  condi- 
tion, although  he  may  indicate  by  a  very  feeble  and  imper- 
fect accentuation  of  words,  that  he  possesses  a  due  apprehen- 
sion of  the  necessity  of  that  quality  in  speaking,  yet  he 
cannot,  owing  to  his  poverty  in  the  blessing  of  sound,  give 
out  the  different  syllables  in  the  words  which  he  utters  with 
a  distinct  intonation,  he  cannot  yield  to  each  syllable  and 
letter  in  the  composition  of  a  word  that  due  degree  of 
weight  which  will  mark  with  distinctness  and  precision 
the  divisions  which  exist  in  them,  just  as  the  transient 
pauses  which  occur  between  the  notes  delivered  from  a  bell 
of  a  glassy  intonation  repeats  the  distinct  existence  of  each 
sound  which  falls  from  it  upon  the  ear.  It  may  be  said  of  a 
person  whose  voice  does  not  come  to  the  aid  of  his  under- 
standing in  the  pronunciation  of  words,  that  he  is  a  correct 
pronouncer,  but  not  a  perfect  or  just  articulator,  just  as  it 
may  be  said  of  a  performer  on  the  violin,  who  is  a  perfect 
master  of  the  science,  but  not  of  the  sounds  of  music,  that 
he  is  a  correct  but  not  a  distinct  musician. 


THE   CLEAR  ARTICULATION  OF  WORDS.  185 

To  yield  words  in  a  discourse  with  every  atom  of  sound 
which  may  be  due  to  them  in  a  measure  of  proper  distribu- 
tion amongst  the  letters  and  syllables,  is  the  province  of 
articulation.  The  speaker  who  understands  pronunciation 
very  perfectly,  may  execute  that  portion  of  his  duties  with 
a  sufficient  share  of  accuracy,  to  indicate  that  he  is  skilled  in 
scholastic  learning.  And  a  musician  may  pass  through  an 
entire  composition  in  music,  in  such  a  way  as  to  convince 
every  person  in  his  presence,  that  he  is  a  perfect  master  in 
the  science  of  music.  But  from  a  defect  of  the  ear,  he  may 
not  produce  the  different  notes  in  the  composition,  in  such  a 
full  and  distinct  measure  of  sound,  as  to  communicate  a 
lively  sense  of  entertainment  to  the  audience. 

It  requires  the  acute  and  practiced  ear,  as  well  as  the  dis- 
cerning mind,  in  the  application  of  musical  science  to  the 
entertainment  of  mankind,  to  deliver  out  the  notes  of  music 
in  the  perfection  of  their  distinctness  and  sweetness.  And 
it  requires  the  faculties  of  a  disciplined  and  tuneful  voice,  as 
well  as  the  mental  acumen  imparted  by  classic  culture,  to 
give  out  words  in  speaking  with  the  proper  distribution  of 
sound  which  should  be  yielded  to  them.  The  intimate  union 
which  exists  between  pronunciation  and  articulation  in  the 
business  of  speaking,  has  been  very  distinctly  affirmed  in  a 
previous  portion  of  this  chapter.  Indeed  it  may  be  appro- 
priately said  that  the  one  of  these  faculties  merely  presents 
a  different  phase  of  the  other,  carried  to  the  most  extended 
limit  of  its  excellence.  A  person  who  very  clearly  appre- 
hends the  office  of  pronunciation,  but  who  possesses  a  voice 
exceedingly  deficient  in  volume  and  in  modulation,  may  con- 
vince every  person  who  hears  him  speak,  that  he  knows  how 
to  pronounce,  by  recognizing  the  points  of  accentuation  in 
the  progress  of  speaking.  But  he  may  yield  this  accentua- 
tion with  such  a  limited  measure  of  sound,  as  to  excite  the 
attention  of  his  audience  in  a  very  feeble  manner.  The  fact 
of  giving  the  accentuation  even  in  a  feeble  and  superficial 


136         THE  CLEAR  ARTICULATION  OP  WORDS. 

manner,  shows  that  the  understanding  of  the  speaker  is  right 
on  the  subject.  The  fact  of  giving  the  accentuation  faintly 
and  imperfectly,  shows  that  the  voice  of  the  speaker  is  de- 
ficient either  in  strength  or  in  culture. 

The  delivery  of  a  speaker  who  articulates  clearly  and 
justly,  is  neither  marred  by  an  imperfect  apprehension  of 
the  words  he  utters,  nor  by  the  inappropriate  distribution  of 
the  measure  of  sound  amongst  these  words.  A  speaker 
who  articulates  finely,  not  only  discloses  the  fact  that  he 
understands  the  component  elements  in  the  language  which 
he  delivers,  b}'  giving  these  elements  and  divisions  a  faint 
recognition  in  the  sounds  of  his  voice,  as  he  progresses 
in  delivering  a  speech.  He  pays  a  full  measure  of  hom- 
age to  them.  He  speaks  each  word  in  a  discourse  as 
distinctly  separate  from  every  other  word  in  it,  as  each  shot 
which  descends  from  a  shot-tower  is  distinct  from  every 
other  shot  which  falls  from  the  same  starting  point.  He 
marks  the  boundaries  between  the  different  syllables  in  a 
word,  when  he  speaks  it,  just  as  explicitly  as  a  smith  marks 
the  limits  between  each  link  in  a  chain,  when  he  forges  them 
in  succession.  And  he  assigns  to  every  letter  which  deter- 
mines the  sound  of  a  word,  a  locality  in  the  utterance  of  that 
word,  which  is  just  as  ostensible  in  its  place,  as  the  eye  is  in 
the  human  face. 

For  the  sake  of  rendering  the  difference  between  pronun- 
ciation and  articulation  so  broad  as  not  to  afford  the  pupil  in 
elocution  the  slightest  shade  of  hesitancy  in  discriminating 
between  the  two  operations,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  pro- 
nunciation in  relation  to  the  quality  of  accuracy  in  sounding 
words,  may  be  compared  to  an  individual  who  shows  clearly 
enough  his  recognition  of  an  acquaintance  by  a  nod  scarcely 
perceptible,  or  by  a  formal  and  frigid  shake  of  the  hand. 
This  shows  that  he  has  a  just  conception  of  the  prevalent  forms 
of  social  civility,  whilst  at  the  same  time  he  reduces  these 
forms  to  a  practice  which  is  warmed  by  a  very  faint  spirit  of 


THE  CLEAR  ARTICULATION   OF  WORDS.  137 

cordiality.  Articulation  may  be  said  to  resemble  a  person 
who  not  only  manifests  his  recollection  of  a  friend  when  he 
meets  him,  but  who  also  practically  (femonstrates  that  recol- 
lection by  a  countenance  beaming  with  animation,  by  a  salut,- 
ation  warmed  by  the  glow  of  affection,  and  by  a  grasp  of  the 
hand  strengthened  by  the  joys  of  reunion. 

It  was  said  of  President  Jefferson,  that  he  would  dispense 
the  compliments  of  a  dinner  party  with  so  much  elegance 
and  address,  that  each  of  the  guests  he  entertained  at  the 
time  would  retire  from  his  hospitable  mansion  with  the  flat- 
tering conviction  that  he  had  borne  away  the  prize  compli- 
ment of  the  occasion.  And  if  a  speaker  should  articulate  the 
words  delivered  by  him  with  perfect  distinctness  and  accu- 
racy, his  hearers  may  leave  him  with  the  belief  upon  their 
minds  that  each  word  he  spoke  was  marked  by  a  special 
beauty  of  sound. 

But  it  has  not  been  designed,  in  the  preceding  remarks,  to 
depreciate  the  value  of  an  accurate  pronunciation  of  words. 
That  quality  in  speaking  is  an  essential  which  is  so  imperi- 
ously demanded,  that  without  it  a  speaker  must  progress  in 
his  business  with  an  execution  as  blundering  and  graceless  as 
that  which  is  yielded  in  the  exercise  of  dancing  by  a  person 
incurably  crippled  in  his  limbs.  But  whilst  pronunciation 
marks  the  points  of  accentuation  in  words,  articulation,  sim- 
ilar to  a  faithful  auxiliary,  distinctly  reveals  these  points  to 
the  ear  hj  applying  to  them  the  property  of  sound  in  a 
proper  measure  of  clearness  and  fulness.  It  may  be  justly 
remarked,  that  the  inseparable  union  of  these  two  accom- 
plishments is  essential  to  give  elegance  and  effect  to  language 
which  is  spoken,  the  one  to  mark  the  points  of  division  in 
words,  and  the  other  to  give  those  boundaries  the  proper 
enunciation. 


138        THE  PKOPERTY  OF  CADENCE. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

THE  PROPERTY  OF  CADENCE  IN  SPEAKING. 

A  RECURRENCE  to  the  magicol  effect  which  has  been  fre- 
quently exerted  on  an  audience  by  accomplished  vocalists,  in 
displaying  a  beautiful  and  tremulous  cadence  of  the  voice, 
will  enable  the  pupil  to  appreciate  properly  the  peculiar 
efficacy  of  this  quality  when  blended  with  the  delivery  of  an 
enlightened  advocate.  It  is  the  fact,  apparently,  of  permit- 
ting the  voice  to  die  away  and  retire  into  the  depths  of  the 
throat,  so  as  to  be  scarcely  audible,  which  produces  this  spe- 
cies of  intonation.  It  is  usually  possessed,  in  the  highest 
degree  of  perfection,  by  celebrated  singers  and  tragedians, 
because  their  voices  are  usually  subjected  to  the  most  rigid, 
painful,  and  persevering  culture,  for  the  purpose  of  producing 
this  sound  equally  with  others  which  render  the  voice  at- 
tractive. 

But  this  accomplishment  of  the  voice  is  not  confined  to 
professional  vocalists  or  to  dramatists.  It  asserts  its  pres- 
ence, in  a  very  attractive  degree,  in  the  delivery  of  skilful 
orators.  And  as  it  is  chiefly  the  fruit  of  culture,  it  may  be 
as  extensively  appropriated  by  speakers  as  by  the  dramatic 
corps.  This  proposition  derives  confirmation  and  support 
from  the  fact  that  almost  every  voice  of  music  or  of  tragedy 
which  has  delighted  the  world  on  the  theatrical  boards,  has 
been  the  product  of  incalculable  toil  and  vigilance.  And  it 
is  also  sustained  by  the  great  advances  to  perfection,  in  this 
peculiar  intonation,  which  has  been  exhibited  by  those  public 
speakers  in  this  country  who  have  devoted  a  liberal  share  of 
attention  to  the  matter. 

The  voices  of  some  persons  have  been  adapted  by  nature 
to  the  easy   acquisition  of  this   element  in  vocal  beauty. 


THE  PROPEETY  OF  CADENCE.  139 

And  it  is  highly  probable  that  those  who  possess  an  original 
determination  of  the  voice  to  the  production  of  such  sounds, 
are  just  as  unconscious  of  the  property  as  those  who  have 
had  the  faculty  of  ventriloquism  slumbering  in  their  consti- 
stutions  until  the  meridian  of  life  before  they  discovered  it. 

But  even  where  nature  has  furnished  the  basis  for  this 
desirable  acquisition,  in  blessing  some  of  her  children  with  a 
voice  of  rare  flexibility  and  tunefulness,  it  cannot  be  rendered 
in  a  high  degree  attractive  without  the  application  of  the 
most  assiduous  attention  and  labor.  Eor  it  is  not  sufficient 
that  persons  should  be  endowed  with  a  large  fund  of  consti- 
tutional melody.  It  is  also  rendered  incumbent  upon  them 
to  regulate  and  discipline  their  natural  stock  of  sweet  sounds, 
in  such  a  manner  as  will  enable  them  to  dispose  of  it  cor- 
rectly, and  to  distribute  it  in  a  proper  measure  to  the  world. 

It  is  incontestably  true,  then,  that  the  vocal  faculty  about 
which  we  are  now  discoursing,  is,  without  an  exception  to  the 
contrary,  the  result  of  acquired  skill  and  art.  It  is  even 
thus  where  nature  has  given  the  noblest  elements  for  its  cre- 
ation. The  proposition  is  pre-eminently  true  where  the 
voice  has  presented  obstacles  to  the  attainment  of  this  pecu- 
liar beauty. 

But  the  invincible  fact  that  a  quality  of  the  voice  possess- 
ing  such  rare  attractions  for  mankind,  may  be  attained  by 
persevering  exertion,  extends  a  measure  of  encouragement 
which  should  be  highly  exhilarating  to  a  student  in  elocution. 
For  it  clearly  reveals  to  him  the  proposition  that  his  power 
of  fascination  as  a  public  speaker,  is  a  subject  which  is  to  a 
great  extent  under  his  own  control,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  vo- 
lition. 

The  mode  by  which  this  accomplishment  may  be  acquired, 
may  prove  somewhat  difficult  to  define.  But  it  may  be  as- 
sumed, as  a  starting  point,  in  commencing  a  duty  of  such 
vast  importance,  that  when  the  faculty  of  producing  the  deep- 
er tones  of  the  voice  shall  be  once  acquired  by  a  speaker, 


140        THE  PKOPERTY  OF  CADENCE. 

that  he  is  then  provided  with  practical  evidence  that  the  prin- 
cipal barrier  to  the  creation  of  those  tremulous  and  beauti- 
ful cadences  to  which  we  have  been  referring,  has  been  re- 
moved from  his  voice.  For  as  it  is  impossible  to  yield  this 
cadence  without  the  power  of  producing  the  deeper  tones  of 
voice,  the  converse  of  the  proposition  may  be  assumed  as 
true,  that  when  assisted  by  the  power  of  producing  the  deep 
tones,  a  speaker  will  find  it  an  easy  enterprise  to  command 
in  speaking  that  cadence  which  is  so  agreeable. 

From  the  preceding  reflections,  it  will  appear  that,  with 
the  view  of  attaining  the  quality  of  sound  which  forms  the 
subject  of  this  chapter,  the  pupil  should  devote  a  patient  de- 
gree of  attention  to  the  object  of  deepening  the  tones  of  the 
voice.  After  he  has  secured  this  essential  preliminary,  he 
should  then  observe  with  unwavering  fidelity  the  delivery 
of  the  most  celebrated  speakers  and  tragedians  within  his 
reach,  in  order  to  become  familiar  with  the  varied  tones  of 
beauty  which  may  be  yielded  by  their  voices.  And  he  will 
not  only  be  enabled,  by  the  adoption  of  this  course,  to  recog- 
nize and  identify  the  beautiful  and  tremulous  cadence  of  the 
voice  to  which  we  have  referred,  so  as  to  know  distinctly 
what  it  is,  and  in  what  it  consists,  but  he  will  also  ascertain 
by  what  agencies  and  exertions  it  is  formed. 

When  a  speaker  has  practically  informed  himself  by  an 
intelligent  observation  of  the  most  distmguished  masters  of 
the  voice,  what  the  quality  of  cadence  really  is,  how  it  is 
produced,  and  what  sort  of  additional  beauty  he  really  wishes 
to  engraft  upon  his  voice,  he  should  keep  the  desired  passage 
of  sound  continually  in  contemplation,  and  practise  it  unfail- 
ingly whenever  suitable  opportunities  shall  be  presented  to 
him.  If  he  shall  resolutely  determine  to  pursue  the  sugges- 
tions here  submitted,  he  may  summon  to  his  aid  in  speaking 
the  rare  and  beautiful  quality  of  cadence  with  as  infallible 
certainty  as  he  can  acquire  the  accurate  knowledge  of  any 
branch  of  scholastic  learning  which  may  engage  his  fancy. 


THE  PKOPER  EMPHASIS  TO  WORDS.  141 

And  the  faculty  of  producing  this  note  of  the  voice  in  per- 
fection, merits  the  most  fervent  aspirations  of  a  public  speaker, 
as  well  on  account  of  the  inimitable  passages  of  beauty  which 
it  -enables  him  often  to  interweave  with  the  process  of  deliv- 
ery, as  for  the  splendid  conquests  which  it  may  enable  him 
to  achieve  on  the  field  of  discussion.  The  act  of  causing  the 
voice  apparently  to  melt  and  sink  away  in  the  distance, 
whilst  its  sounds  may  be  so  distinctly  articulated  to  the  ear 
as  to  define  and  preserve  their  distinctive  character,  and  to 
make  them  intelligibly  known  to  the  hearer,  is  an  attainment 
which  invests  a  vocalist  or  a  tragedian  with  high  powers  of 
attraction ;  but  to  the  delivery  of  a  cultivated  and  gifted 
reasoner,  it  lends  a  charm  of  invincible  power. 


CHAPTER   XL. 

THE    ABILITY    TO   YIELD   A   PROPER    EMPHASIS   TO   WORDS. 

One  of  the  most  copious  springs  from  which  a  speaker 
derives  his  available  supplies  of  influence  and  strength,  is 
the  art  of  giving  the  proper  emphasis  to  the  words  which 
he  utters  in  a  discourse.  And  this  accomplishment  in  a 
speaker  is  as  distinctly  felt  by  an  audience  in  casting  its 
appreciation  of  a  discourse,  as  that  creative  faculty  is  felt  in 
a  painter  which  enables  him  to  mingle  together,  in  a  felicitous 
proportion,  the  lights  and  shades  which  are  blended  in  the 
formation  of  a  magnificent  picture.  When  destitute  of  the 
competency  to  give  a  proper  emphasis  to  the  words  which 
he  utters,  a  speaker  will  not  only  be  subject  to  the  passive 
injury  of  not  being  properly  appreciated,  but  he  encounters 
the  painful  penalty  of  being  positively  misapprehended  in 
his  remarks  on  a  subject. 

Those  who  may  be  familiar  with  dramatic  exhibitions  can 


142  THE  PROPER  EMPHASIS  TO  WORDS. 

very  justly  apprehend  how  an  actor  that  imperfectly  com- 
prehends his  part,  may,  by  adopting  a  wrong  train  of  ex- 
pressions and  gestures,  united  with  a  blundering  emphasis, 
succeed  not  only  in  veiling  the  nature  of  the  character  which 
it  is  his  duty  to  personate  from  the  conception  of  his  audience, 
but  how  also  he  may  positively  transmute  that  character  into 
an  individuality  utterly  at  variance  with  that  which  he  has 
been  appointed  to  represent. 

The  extremity  of  imperfection  which  has  been  alluded  to, 
the  public  speaker  seldom  or  never  reaches.  But  it  often 
happens  that  a  cause  of  transcendent  merit  meets  with  incal- 
culable injury  from  the  total  absence  of  that  dramatic  skill 
in  an  advocate  which  would  enable  him  to  marshal  his  words 
in  such  a  manner,  in  delivering  an  argument,  as  to  make 
each  word  produce  its  proper  effect. 

It  has  sometimes  happened,  that  a  word  emphasised  with 
masterly  skill  and  address,  has  decided  the  fate  of  an  em- 
pire. And  it  is  a  proposition  utterly  beyond  the  reach  of 
controversy,  that  the  dextrous  disposition  of  a  single  word 
in  a  discourse  has  frequently  taken  captive  the  heart  of  beau- 
ty, and  disposed  of  highly-important  measures.  Tliese  con- 
clusions are  not  derived  merely  from  the  pages  of  history, 
nor  from  the  voice  of  a  floating  tradition,  but  they  are  found- 
ed upon  the  solid  basis  of  past  observation. 

When  we  hearken  to  the  conversations  of  legislators  and 
jurors,  who  explicitly  confess  to  the  impeachment  of  having 
been  borne  away  by  an  argument  transcendentally  powerful 
in  its  character,  what  is  the  explanation  that  they  usually  af- 
ford concerning  their  tame  surrender  to  the  witcheries  of 
eloquence  ?  The  declaration  generally  is,  "  O,  the  speaker 
drew  such  a  hideous  picture  of  the  wrongs  received  by  the 
prisoner,  we  were  compelled  to  acquit  him."  "  The  statesman 
expatiated  with  such  irresistible  power  on  the  frightful  evils 
with  which  some  particular  measure  was  fraught,  that  we 
were  compelled  to  vote  against  it."   Another  statesman  drew 


THE  CONVEKSATIONAL  STYLE.  143 

a  field  of  such  perfect  enchantment,  out  of  a  different  measure, 
by  applying  to  it  the  creative  wand  of  his  imagination,  that 
his  audience  really  believed  that  they  had  the  scene  of  magic 
practically  revealed  to  them,  and  slided  into  the  snare  of  the 
orator  with  as  much  docility  and  meekness  as  n  b-evy  of  part- 
ridges would  glide  into  the  net  of  a  fowler. 

When  the  philosophy  of  the  most  miraculous  conquests 
of  oratory  is  critically  analyzed,  it  will  be  found  inclosed,  in 
many  instances,  in  the  simple  power  of  giving  a  superior 
emphasis  to  words  in  a  discourse.  This  proposition  is  forti- 
fied in  a  very  high  degree  by  the  tame  appearance  which  is 
often  presented  in  print  by  speeches  which  in  their  delivery 
inspired  the  populace  with  phrenzy.  By  pointing  to  the  flag 
of  the  nation  at  times  with  dramatic  skill,  the  orator  touches 
a  vein  of  enthusiasm  in  his  audience  which  places  them  as 
emphatically  under  his  control  as  would  be  a  piece  of  melt 
ing  wax  in  the  hands  of  an  artist.  By  pointing  to  an  obnox- 
ious individual,  with  a  skilful  command  of  the  music  of 
sound,  an  orator  may  consign  that  individual  to  hopeless 
immolation. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

THE   CONVEE8ATI0NAL    STYLE   IN   PUBLIC   SPEAKING. 

It  is  the  impression  with  many  speakers  that  no  decided 
effect  can  ever  be  produced  on  an  audience,  unless  it  should 
be  addressed  in  a  vehement  and  declamatory  strain.  But 
nothing  can  be  farther  from  the  reality.  For  whatever  is 
most  in  accordance  with  nature  in  the  pursuits  of  life,  is 
alone  qualified  to  produce  any  permanent  good  or  solid  sat- 
isfaction. And  as  walking  is  that  exercise  in  the  motions  of 
the  body  which  is  most  consistent  with  nature,  because  it  is 


14A  THE  CONVERSATIONAL  STYLE. 

that  application  of  the  functions  of  man  which  is  constantly 
and  universally  ministering  to  the  wants  and  the  pleasures 
of  life,  so  the  conversational  mode  of  speaking  is  the  style 
which  corresponds  in  the  highest  degree  with  the  tastes  and 
feelings  of  a  large  majority  of  our  race.  It  is  that  style  of 
speaking  in  which  an  individual  insinuates  himself  into  the 
affections  of  both  sexes  in  the  private  walks  of  life.  It  is 
that  style  of  speaking  by  which  the  most  important  business 
transactions  of  life  are  usually  conducted  and  perfected.  It 
is  that  style  of  speaking  in  which  the  most  momentous  political 
negotiations  are  commenced  and  prosecuted  to  their  close 
by  the  representatives  of  different  nations.  It  is  the  style  in 
which  the  members  of  every  household,  within  the  wide  do- 
main of  rational  nature,  are  endeared  to  each  other ;  and 
it  may  be  safely  affirmed  to  be  the  grand  circulating  medi- 
ium  of  our  race  throughout  the  world. 

It  is  not  a  strained  inference,  then,  to  assume  from  the 
foregoing  premises,  that  the  hearts  of  an  audience  can  be 
more  successfully  reached,  and  the  strings  of  popular  sym- 
pathy more  powerfully  touched,  by  the  conversational  style 
in  public  speaking,  than  by  any  other.  If  the  attention  of 
any  individual  in  society  cannot  be  arrested  by  an  acquaint- 
ance who  submits  to  him  any  matter  of  business  or  distress 
in  a  very  earnest  conversational  appeal,  it  is  not  unnatural 
to  suppose  that  the  heart  of  the  person  addressed  is  widely 
estranged  from  the  person  addressing  him,  or  that  his  feel- 
ings of  sympathy  are  inclosed  in  a  shield  of  impenetrable 
ice. 

Even  in  the  dramatic  exhibitions  of  the  world,  it  is  very 
observable  what  an  indefinite  advantage  the  actor  who  con- 
ducts his  part  in  a  smooth  and  facile  strain  of  animated  con- 
versation, possesses  over  the  most  cultivated  performer  who 
is  constantly  ranting  on  the  topmost  key  of  his  voice.  It  is 
equally  apparent  with  what  celerity  a  celebrated  actor  en- 
gages the  attention  of  his  audience,  when  he  descends  from 


THE   OONVERSATION'AL  STYLE.  145 

the  heights  of  boisterous  rant  and  declamation  to  the  calm 
level  of  ordinary  conversation. 

When  a  speaker  is  declaiming  to  an  audience  of  any  de- 
scription, the  most  finished  and  convincing  argument  in  a 
strain  of  loud  and  vehement  declamation,  he  is  regarded  by 
those  whom  he  addresses  as  one  who  is  playing  a  part,  he  is 
as  distinct  from  the  audience  as  the  magician  when  exhibit- 
ing his  mysteries  in  the  field  of  ledgerdemam,  and  as  the 
clown  in  the  circus,  who  has  temporarily  foregone  his  orig- 
inal identity.  A  speaker  of  this  description  may  command 
the  admiration  of  an  audience,  by  the  splendor  of  his  oratorical 
flights,  by  the  vigor  of  his  argumentation,  and  by  the  dramatic 
skill  of  his  gestures.  But  he  rarely  sways  their  sympathies 
and  affections.  They  view  him  whilst  he  is  engaged  in  address- 
ing them,  as  if  he  was  a  different  being  from  themselves,  as 
if  he  was  making  a  speech  instead  of  talking  to  them  upon  a 
matter  in  which  they  possessed  a  common  interest  with  him. 
Let  a  speaker  of  this  description  be  succeeded  by  one  of 
respectable  powers  and  attainments,  who  addresses  them  in 
the  familiar  strain  of  persuasive  and  animated  conversation, 
and  the  change  in  favor  of  the  conversational  speaker  will 
prove  so  glaring  as  almost  to  be  incredible.  Why  is  this 
so  ?  Why  it  is  a  result  which  flows  from  the  nature  and 
constitution  of  man.  The  conversational  speaker  addresses 
them  in  that  style  which  commands  their  attention  at  the 
festive  board,  at  the  fireside,  in  the  fields  of  labor,  on  the 
public  highways,  and  in  all  the  simpler  duties  and  pleasures 
of  life.  He  talks  to  them  as  they  have  been  accustomed  to 
be  talked  to,  and  as  they  have  been  accustomed  to  talk  to 
their  fellow-beings,  and  they  feel  as  if  they  would  like  to  take 
a  part  in  the  conversation  with  him. 

The  conversational  speaker  simplifies  the  business  of  speak- 
ing to  his  hearers  so  as  to  bring  a  matter  home  to  every-day 
sympathies,  just  as  a  writer  remarkable  for  the  simple  beau- 
ties of  his  style,  endears  himself  to  those  who  read  his  produc- 

7 


146  THE  CONVERSATIONAL  STYLE. 

tions,  because  the  readers  feel  that  the  writer  belongs  to  the 
same  race  with  themselves.  And  as  persons  who  read  the 
works  of  a  writer  characterized  by  great  simplicity  of  style, 
are  apt  to  imagine  that  they  could  have  written  the  works 
they  may  be  engaged  in  reading  themselves,  so  the  hearers 
of  an  accomplished  conversational  debater  w^ill  be  apt  to 
imagine  that  they  could  speak  like  him  themselves. 

The  renowned  Archbishop  Tillotson,  who  has  left  imper- 
ishable memorials  of  his  name  and  excellence  behind  him,  in 
his  sermons  as  well  as  in  the  traditional  reports  of  his  moral 
purity  and  loveliness,  which  have  descended  to  posterity  on 
more  than  a  million  of  voices,  regarded  it  as  the  highest  com- 
pliment that  had  ever  been  paid  to  him  as  a  pulpit  orator, 
when,  on  descending  from  the  pulpit  at  the  close  of  his  dis- 
course on  a  Sabbath  morning,  he  overheard  some  coimtry- 
men  who  came  down  to  London  to  hear  him,  ask  a  city  man 
with  evident  surprise,  "  is  that  your  great  Archbishop,  why 
he  talks  just  like  one  of  us !" 

The  most  successful  ^eakers  from  the  sacred  desk,  in 
legislative  assemblies,  on  the  hustings,  and  before  courts  and 
juries,  will  all  be  found  in  the  colloquial  department.  And 
it  is  not  intended  to  be  affirmed  in  advancing  this  idea,  that 
there  are  no  speakers  who  are  highly  declamatory  in  their 
style  of  speaking,  who  succeed  in  engaging  the  admiration 
of  the  world.  This  proposition  would  be  broadly  and  intel- 
ligibly overruled  by  the  experience  both  of  ancient  and  mod- 
em times.  The  page  of  history  is  adorned  by  the  names  of 
many  speakers  who  have  acquired  imperishable  fame  both 
in  the  earlier  ages  of  the  world  and  in  those  which  are  more 
recent  by  the  force  of  a  vehement  elocution.  But  the  prin- 
ciple which  is  designed  to  be  presented  in  this  treatise,  is 
that  the  highest  degree  of  utility  and  effect  is  only  to  be  at- 
tained in  the  conversational  style. 

The  clergyman  who  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  dispenses  both 
the  promises  and  the  threats  of  the  gospel  through  the  me- 


THE  OONVEESATIONAL  STYLE.  147 

dium  of  a  florid,  theatrical,  and  declamatory  elocution,  may- 
number  in  his  train  more  noisy  and  enthusiastic  admirers. 
But  the  quiet  grace  and  simplicity  of  the  conversational  min- 
ister, will  command  more  converts  to  the  faith  which  he 
professes,  and  will  also  win  for  him  a  larger  measure  of  si- 
lent and  profound  affection.  The  declamatory  speaker  before 
a  jury,  may  have  a  larger  number  of  those  who  are  listening 
in  the  court-house  to  talk  about  his  speech  after  it  is  finished, 
than  the  conversational  speaker.  But  the  lawyer  or  advo- 
cate who  addresses  a  jury  in  the  conversational  style,  will 
be  most  successful  in  fixing  the  attention  of  the  jury,  and 
will  carry  the  most  verdicts. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

THE   CONVERSATIONAL   STYLE   IN   PUBLIC   SPEAKING    CONTINUED. 

The  conversational  style  in  speaking  recommends  itself  to 
the  speaker,  not  only  from  its  superior  efficacy  to  all  other 
modes  in  engaging  the  attention  of  those  he  is  addressing, 
but  also  on  account  of  the  vast  abridgement  of  the  speaker's 
labors  which  it  admits,  and  the  power  it  affords  him  of  ex- 
plaining with  perspicuity  and  minuteness  every  proposition 
which  he  may  choose  to  support  or  oppose.  When  a  public 
speaker  is  engaged  in  addressing  an  assembly  of  any  descrip- 
tion, in  a  strain  of  vehement  declamation,  the  labor  involved 
in  this  manner  of  speaking  is  so  intense  that  it  causes  him  to 
shufflle  over  his  propositions  very  loosely  and  superficially, 
without  taking  time  to  indulge  in  any  nice  passages  of  rea- 
soning on  any  point,  or  to  yield  attention  to  particulars. 

The  conversational  reason er,  on  the  contrary,  having  the 


148  THE  CONVEESATIONAL  STYLE. 

perfect  command  of  his  voice,  can  proceed  at  a  degree  of 
celerity  regulated  by  his  own  pleasure,  and,  whether  he  is 
speaking  fast  or  slow,  will  be  enabled  to  press  into  his  service 
every  fact  and  authority  which  he  may  remember,  and  may 
also  reason  minutely  upon  them,  because  he  will  be  speaking 
perfectly  at  ease,  and  free  from  that  intensity  of  exertion 
which  will  be  an  unfailing  concomitant  of  any  speaker  whose 
habit  it  is  to  address  an  assembly  at  the  topmost  pitch  of  his 
voice. 

When  we  speak  of  the  colloquial  style  in  public  speakmg, 
we  do  not  enjoin  that  monotonous  and  drawling  sort  of  enun- 
ciation in  which  the  speaker  can  be  hardly  heard  by  his 
audience.  A  great  deal  of  prosy  nonsense,  ignorance,  and 
fustian  are  frequently  delivered  in  that  style,  by  a  speaker 
who  has  not  the  enthusiasm  to  be  excited  to  a  pitch  of  anima- 
tion, or  from  his  inexperience  in  the  business  of  speaking, 
cannot  muster  up  the  confidence  to  speak  with  much  spirit, 
for  fear  of  losing  the  path  which  he  may  have  previously 
chalked  out  in  the  deliberations  of  the  closet. 

When  the  conversational  mode  of  speaking  is  referred  to, 
we  mean  that  the  speaker  should  commence  his  remarks  in 
that  simple  and  familiar  manner,  and  with  the  same  compass 
of  voice  which  he  would  adopt  in  presenting  his  views  to  a 
friend  or  to  a  company  of  friends  in  the  social  circles  of  life. 
When  he  has  advanced  a  short  way  in  speaking,  or  shall 
become  interested  in  the  subject  about  which  he  may  be  dis- 
coursing, his  feelings  will  gradually  contract  a  glow  from  the 
exercise,  and  his  voice  will  be  also  gradually  expanded  in  its 
volume.  And  when  the  voice  of  the  speaker  is  raised  to  the 
highest  pitch  which  it  commonly  assumes  in  rational  and 
well-regulated  conversations,  then  he  will  be  at  that  level 
of  the  voice  at  which  he  will  do  himself  most  justice  and 
prove  most  agreeable  to  his  audience. 

There  are  many  persons  who  will  not  find  it  very  difiicult 
to  adopt  the  conversational  mode  in  speaking,  from  the  fact 


THE  CONVEKSATIONAL  STYLE.  149 

of  their  voices  possessing  that  uniform  and  equahle  flow 
of  sound  which  corresponds  with  the  usual  colloquial  exer- 
cises of  social  life.  But,  in  a  great  majority  of  cases,  those 
whose  business  it  is  to  address  their  fellow-beings,  have 
voices  which  take  so  many  shifting  keys,  in  the  act  of  com- 
mencing a  speech,  or  they  have  trained  their  voices  so  long 
in  the  declamatory  mode,  that  it  will  require  a  patient  and 
persevering  use  of  various  exercises,  to  enable  them  to  com- 
mand at  pleasure  what  is  here  termed  the  conversational 
mode. 

One  of  the  most  successful  modes  by  which  to  blend  this 
mode  of  speaking  with  the  style  of  a  speaker,  as  a  constant 
habit,  is  to  resort  daily  to  some  retired  locality  either  in  the 
forests  or  fields,  and  having  previously  provided  some  book 
of  speeches,  which  has  been  selected  with  reference  to  the 
shortness  of  its  sentences  and  the  smoothness  of  its  language, 
to  declaim  a  portion  of  some  speech  remarkable  for  the 
brevity  of  its  sentences  and  the  animation  of  its  language,  at 
the  highest  pitch  of  the  speaker's  voice.  This  exercise  gives 
tension  or  expansion  to  the  voice,  frees  it  of  its  asperities, 
clears  it  of  its  hoarseness,  increases  its  depth  of  tone,  and 
improves  its  melody  of  sound. 

After  he  has  exercised  his  voice  in  declaiming  upon  a 
sharp  or  elevated  key,  let  him  pause  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes,  or  at  least  for  a  sufficient  space  of  time  to  afford 
the  vocal  functions  rest.  Then  let  him  take  up  the  speech  or 
address  which  he  has  previously  spoken  on  a  high  key,  and 
read  it  over,  deliberately  and  carefully,  on  a  low  key  of  the 
voice,  and  he  will  find  with  what  remarkable  facility  he  can 
go  through  a  performance  in  the  usual  style  of  reading,  imme- 
diately after  the  voice  has  been  subjected  to  the  previous 
severe  training. 

But  declamation  on  an  elevated  key  of  the  human  voice  is 
not  the  only  preparatory  training  which  will  tune  the  voice 
for  reading  with  facility.     The  student,  by  previously  exerr 


150  VARIED  MODES  OF  DELIVERY. 

cising  his  voice  in  singing  some  favorite  hymn  or  song,  will 
discover  that,  with  an  interval  of  rest  between  the  two  exer- 
cises, he  can  read  a  few  pages  in  a  book  of  any  description, 
with  an  ease  which  he  can  rarely  attain  independent  of  such 
previous  exercise  in  singing. 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

THE  ACQUISITION   OF  DIFFEEENT  MODES    OF   DELIVEEY — IK   ADVANTAGES. 

The  benefit  of  acquiring  a  fixed  style  or  mode  of  intonation 
in  speaking,  and  of  rendering  that  style  a  personal  accom- 
plishment, has  been  heretofore  presented  to  the  attention  of 
the  pupil,  in  the  course  of  these  numbers. 

And  without  aiming  to  trench  or  infringe  in  the  remotest 
degree,  on  the  force  of  previous  suggestions,  it  may  be  proper 
to  state  to  the  student,  in  addition  to  that  admonition,  that 
it  will  prove  an  exceedingly  valuable  attainment  to  acquire 
various  modes  of  delivery. 

For  instance,  he  may  hear  an  accomplished  orator  who 
enunciates  in  the  conversational  style,  and  he  may,  by  per- 
persevering  exertion,  transfer  that  particular  style  of  deliv- 
ery to  his  possession. 

He  may  then  be  captivated  by  some  admirable  speak- 
er, who  delivers  his  views  in  the  didactic  style,  and  he 
may  acquire  that  mode  of  speaking,  without  interfering  in 
the  slightest  degree  with  the  first  style  which  has  been  men- 
tioned. 

He  may  then  hear  a  finished  orator  in  the  declama- 
tory style,  and  reduce  that  method  of  delivery  into  his  pos- 
session. 

And  he  may,  with  proper  care  and  perseverance,  intro 
duce  into  the  cabinet  of  his  personal  accomplishments,  all 


VAEIED  MODES  OF  DELIVERY.  151 

the  captivating  modes  of  delivery  which  shall  be  presented 
to  his  attention. 

It  would  require  more  time  to  obtain  the  mastery  over 
the  whole  circle  of  modes,  than  it  would  to  acquire  one  of 
them.  But  it  is  just  as  much  within  the  range  of  practica- 
bility to  obtain  them  all  as  to  obtain  one. 

Just  as  it  is  as  practicable  to  solve  fifty  problems  in 
mathematics  as  it  is  to  solve  one,  if  the  student  only  has  the 
time  at  command. 

And  as  practicable  to  learn  a  hundred  tunes  in  music  as 
one,  on  the  same  principle. 

The  advantage  of  acquiring  different  modes  of  delivery 
may  be  recognized  in  the  capacity  with  which  this  acquisi- 
tion endows  a  speaker,  of  choosing  at  pleasure  a  mode  of 
delivery  on  different  occasions,  to  suit  the  audience  he  may 
be  addressing,  or  to  correspond  with  the  spirit  of  the  times 
or  the  circumstances  in  connection  with  which  the  address 
may  be  made,  or  with  the  character  and  quality  of  the  mat- 
ter he  may  be  about  to  deliver.  The  acquisition  of  each 
new  mode  of  speaking  too,  as  it  successfully  arises,  will 
tend  to  improve  and  perfect  every  mode  that  a  speak- 
er may  have  previously  acquired  ;  just  as  a  dancer  is  im- 
proved in  every  previous  step  he  has  learned  by  the  exercise 
which  he  passed  through  in  acquiring  each  successive  new 
step  or  evolution. 

These  different  styles  or  modes  of  enunciation  are  to 
the  matter  of  which  a  speech  is  composed,  in  the  hands  of  a 
speaker,  just  what  tunes  are  to  the  verses  of  which  a  hymn 
or  song  is  composed,  in  the  hands  of  a  vocalist. 

And  as  the  vocalist  may  fix  in  his  mind  the  tune  he  is 
to  sing  in  connection  with  a  given  hymn,  when  the  hymn  it- 
self shall  have  been  specified ;  so  a  speaker,  when  a  speech 
has  been  arranged  in  his  mind,  or  a  subject  may  be  present- 
ed to  him  at  a  meeting,  which  he  shall  debate,  he  may  fix  in 


152  THE  SPEAKING  PITCH  OF  THE  VOICE. 

his  mind  the  style  or  intonation  of  voice  he  shall  blend  with 
the  delivery  of  the  coming  speech. 

A  speaker  having  at  command  various  modes  of  speaking, 
may  blend  in  one  speech  every  style  of  oratory,  just  as  va- 
rious temperatures  of  the  atmosphere  may,  in  a  fickle  cli- 
mate, be  experienced  in  one  brief  hour. 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 

THK   EKGULATION   OF   THE   VOICE   IN     REFERKNOK     TO     THE   VOLUME    OF    ITS 
SOUND   FROM   THE   BEGINNING   TO   THE   CLOSE   OF    AN   ENTIRE   ARGUMENT. 

It  is  a  matter  of  incalculable  importance  to  a  speaker, 
that  his  voice  should  be  pitched  on  a  proper  key  at  the  com- 
mencement of  a  speech.  On  the  certainty  of  his  attaining  this 
preliminary  object,  his  success  and  convenience  in  the  effort 
then  in  progress,  will  be  both  suspended  in  a  very  high  de- 
gree. If  the  key  he  chooses  shall  be  too  high,  his  voice  and 
gestures  will  be  conducted  with  painful  exertion  and  grace- 
less irregularity  through  the  whole  course  of  the  perform- 
ance ;  for  there  is  a  mysterious  sympathy  existing  between 
the  voice  and  the  limbs  in  the  process  of  speaking,  which 
will  not  permit  the  latter  to  move  with  perfect  ease  and  flex- 
ibility, when  the  former  is  acting  or  sounding  out  of  tune. 
If  the  voice  should  be  placed  on  a  key  too  low,  it  will  yield 
sounds  distressingly  monotonous  and  deficient  in  music, 
through  the  whole  course  of  a  speech.  And  this  defect  the 
speaker  will  not  be  adequate  to  correct,  no  matter  how  loudly 
he  may  sound  his  voice,  until  he  shall  have  effected  a  transi. 
tion  to  the  right  and  natural  key,  which  will  attest  its  pres- 
ence to  the  speaker,  whenever  he  shall  become  competent  to 
speak  with  perfect  flexibility  of  voice  and  gesture. 

In  the  selection  of  a  pitch  for  the  voice,  when  the  speaker  is 


THE  SPEAKING  PITCH  OF  THE  VOICE.  163 

commencing  a  speech,  he  should  be  regulated  very  much  by 
the  position  he  occupies  in  relation  to  the  assembly  he  is  en- 
gaged in  addressing.  If  his  position  should  be  near  the  chair 
of  the  presiding  officer  when  he  commences  addressing  any 
assembly,  he  should  speak  loud  enough  at  the  beginning  of 
his  remarks  to  be  heard  by  persons  at  the  centre  of  the 
hall.  If  he  should  be  standing  at  the  centre  of  the  hall,  he 
should  commence  his  remarks  at  that  pitch  of  the  voice  which 
will  cause  him  to  be  heard  distinctly  at  the  extremities  of  the 
hall.  If  he  should  occupy  a  position  within  four  or  five  feet 
of  a  jury,  at  the  opening  of  an  address  to  a  body  of  that 
kind,  he  should  commence  his  remarks  so  as  to  be  distinctly 
audible  to  them,  and  not  louder,  for  his  proximity  to  the 
persons  he  is  addressing  will  render  it  ungraceful,  unbecom- 
ing and  injurious  to  his  cause  to  speak  louder  at  first  than 
has  been  suggested,  for  he  may  enlarge  the  compass  of  his 
voice  gradually  as  he  advances  in  his  address.  If  a  speaker 
should  be  engaged  in  addressing  a  multitude  in  the  open  air, 
he  should  commence  speaking  precisely  with  that  degree  of 
loudness  which  would  characterize  his  voice  in  opening  a  con- 
versation with  a  person  about  the  distance  of  ten  paces  from 
him.  And  he  should  permit  his  voice  afterwards  to  swell  in 
its  compass,  so  gradually  that  it  will  have  attained  its  acme, 
or  what  may  be  termed  the  ultimate  limit  of  its  volume, 
when  he  shall  have  spoken  about  fifteen  minutes. 

To  ensure  the  possession  of  the  proper  and  natural  pitch 
of  the  voice  at  the  commencement  of  a  speech,  and  its  con- 
tinued or  unbroken  retention  through  the  whole  progress  of 
an  effort,  requires  not  only  the  application  of  a  habitual  pre- 
vious discipline  to  the  voice,  but  a  vigilant  attention  of  the 
speaker  to  its  progressive  enlargement  as  he  advances  in  his 
remarks.  For  there  is  in  every  human  constitution,  except 
those  of  the  most  frigid  and  impervious  mould,  a  degree  of 
fervor  and  excitableness  which  will  be  inevitably  provoked 
into  circulation  and  action  by  that  peculiar  sort  of  influence 
7* 


154  THE  SPEAKING  PITCH  OF  THE  VOICE. 

which  is  exerted  on  the  temperament  by  the  labor  of  speak- 
ing. This  sort  of  caloric  in  the  system  of  man,  when  it 
rises  too  rapidly  and  is  expended  too  freely,  communicates 
the  same  jarring  impetus  to  the  human  machine  which  a  re- 
dundant application  of  steam  usually  imparts  to  machinery 
in  the  mechanical  world.  When  this  impetuous  fervency  of 
feeling  rises  so  high  as  to  get  the  upper  hand  of  a  person, 
when  he  is  speaking,  it  is  certain  to  produce  a  painful  vehem- 
ence and  celerity  in  the  matter  of  delivery,  and  a  marked 
irregularity  and  precipitation  in  the  work  of  gesticulation. 

The  discipline  which  has  been  prescribed  in  the  course  of 
these  commentaries,  will  conduce  much  to  correct  the  ten- 
dency of  speakers  to  overleap  the  bounds  of  a  discreet  and 
well-regulated  animation  in  delivering  a  speech.  But  pre- 
vious discipline  will  not  be  sufficient  in  every  instance  to 
ward  off  the  impediment  to  effective  speaking  which  has  been 
just  deprecated.  To  repress  this  tendency  to  redundant  ex- 
citation in  speaking,  and  to  keep  it  in  tame  subordination  to 
the  dictates  of  interest  and  convenience,  the  speaker  will  be 
frequently  compelled  to  exert  the  same  rigid  control  over  his 
feelings,  when  speaking,  that  he  would  be  called  upon  to 
exert  in  keeping  down  an  enraged  mastiff  that  might  be 
chained  in  his  presence. 

The  best  models  for  imitation  in  the  speaking  world,  al- 
most without  an  exception,  have  sanctified  by  their  example 
the  practice  of  commencing  a  speech  on  the  conversational 
key,  and  of  permitting  the  voice  to  extend  in  its  compass  as 
they  progressed  in  their  remarks,  in  such  a  way  that  it  gen- 
erally attained  the  pitch  of  a  highly-animated  conversation 
about  the  time  when  they  had  occupied  the  floor  about  fif- 
teen minutes. 

To  assure  the  command  of  the  voice  throughout  the  deliv- 
ery of  an  entire  speech,  a  speaker  should  not  only  commence 
his  remarks  in  a  very  moderate  tone  of  voice,  but  he  should 
proceed  very  slowly  at  the  beginning  of  a  speech.     He 


THE   IMITATIVE   FACULTIES.  155 

should  permit  brief  pauses  to  intervene  between  the  earliest 
sentences  in  the  composition  of  his  speech,  and  take  his  own 
time  m  the  labor  of  expressing  his  views.  He  will  thus 
blend  in  salutary  and  beautiful  union  two  advantages  which 
shine  with  a  conspicuous  and  graceful  measure  of  lustre,  in 
the  character  of  a  speaker :  he  will  exhibit  a  spectacle  of  dig- 
nified composure  and  serenity  to  the  eye  of  the  world,  and 
he  will  be  enabled  to  deliver  a  calm,  well-considered  and  in- 
telligent survey  of  the  subject  before  him  to  those  he  may 
be  addressing. 


CHAPTER   XLV. 

IS  IT  POSSIBLE  TO  IMITATE  THE  DELIVERY  OF  AN  ACCOMPLISHED  SPEAKER 
WITH  SUCH  A  DEGREE  OK  SUCCESS,  AS  TO  ENSURE  THE  TRANSFER  OF 
HIS   PARTICULAR    STYLE    AND   MANNER   TO   THE   PERSON   OF   THE  COPYIST  ? 

The  imitative  faculties  of  the  human  race  exist  in  a  much 
stronger  degree  of  perfection  than  the  prevailing  views  of  the 
world  on  this  subject  would  induce  us  to  believe.  And  it  is 
by  a  specific  measure  of  attention  yielded  to  particular  facts 
which  frequently  occur,  that  will  demonstrate  this  proposi- 
tion to  every  intelligent  and  unprejudiced  mind  in  the  most 
luminous  and  satisfactory  manner. 

The  readiness  with  which  children  at  a  very  early  age  will 
imitate  anything  grotesque  or  peculiar,  either  in  the  voices 
or  manners  of  occasional  visitors  to  the  house  of  their  pa- 
rents, has  been  observable  to  almost  every  person.  And 
the  imitation  is  conducted  with  such  a  punctilious  degree  of 
fidelity  and  accuracy  at  times,  on  the  part  of  the  juvenile 
copyist,  as  to  prove  a  prolific  source  of  blended  wonder  and 
amusement  to  those  who  behold  the  exhibition. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  habits  and  characteristics 


156  THE  IMITATIVE  FACULTIES. 

of  the  African  race,  will  possess  a  vivid  recollection  of  the 
surprising  shrewdness  they  usually  exhibit  in  detecting  those 
passages  in  the  manners  and  conversations  of  persons  who  visit 
their  owners,  which  may  be  impressed  in  a  high  degree  with 
an  awkward,  provincial,  or  outlandish  tinge.  And  their  in- 
credible expertness  in  imitating  peculiarities  in  voice,  man- 
ner, and  motion  of  the  preceding  description,  has  often 
yielded  an  abundant  harvest  of  merriment  to  persons  of  whose 
observation  the  benighted  copyists  were  utterly  unconscious 
at  the  time. 

There  is  nothing  which  excites  the  spirit  of  imitation  in 
the  breast  of  any  person  in  connection  with  the  prevailing 
manners,  voices,  and  enunciations  of  the  times.  For  these 
are  so  much  in  accordance  with  nature  and  daily  experience, 
as  to  pass  without  observation.  It  is  only  what  digresses 
from  the  usual  path  of  human  observation  at  either  of  these 
points,  that  provokes  into  action  the  spirit  of  mimicry.  And 
it  is  singular  to  what  heights  of  perfection  the  faculty  of  imi- 
tation is  carried  when  any  person  presents  himself  to  the 
world,  either  in  high  life  or  low  life,  who  is  distinguished  by 
any  marked  peculiarities  of  manner,  voice,  or  motion.  Every 
person  of  this  description  is  almost  as  certain  to  be  honored 
with  a  mimic  in  his  wake,  as  every  solid  body  is  sure  to  have 
its  accompanying  shadow,  and  the  personation  is  executed 
with  such  perfect  fidelity  at  times,  that  persons  in  an  adjoin- 
ing room  have  supposed  the  person  thus  burlesqued  to  be 
present,  when  perhaps  he  was  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
distant  from  the  scene. 

The  corrollary  which  may  be  safely  deduced  from  the 
foregoing  observations,  is  that  inasmuch  as  the  spirit  of  imi- 
tation is  aroused  into  successful  operation  by  the  presentation 
of  anything  singular  in  the  voice,  manner,  or  motions  of  a 
person,  simply  because  such  singularity  is  a  digression  from 
the  ordinary  pale  of  human  manners  and  observation  ;  that 
the  same  spirit  of  imitation,  if  its  possessor  chose  to  apply  it 


THE  IMITATIVE  FACULTIES.  157 

in  that  way,  might  be  successfully  exerted  in  copying  the 
voice  and  manners  of  any  person  in  society  who  might  be 
prominent  for  no  peculiarity. 

It  may  be  safely  affirmed  too,  that  all  mankind  possess 
the  faculty  of  imitation  to  some  extent,  and  that  every  hu- 
man being  who  may  not  be  encumbered  with  an  unusual 
share  of  dulness,  may  push  this  faculty,  by  the  force  of 
persevering  exertion,  to  a  degree  of  accuracy  far  beyond  the 
limit  of  present  estimation.  This  proposition  is  abundantly 
fortified  by  the  facility  with  which  the  bulk  of  our  race  glide 
into  the  daily  performance  of  the  great  catalogue  of  duties 
which  are  essential  to  the  common  business  and  intercourse 
of  life.  The  only  solid  reason  which  can  be  assigned  for  the 
fact  that  some  persons  stand  prominently  revealed  to  the 
world  as  accomplished  mimics,  is  that  from  a  mirthful  turn 
of  feeling,  or  by  some  casual  combination  of  circumstances, 
they  have  been  determined  to  the  work  of  commencing  the 
imitation  of  some  peculiar  individual,  and  having  commenced 
the  work  and  received  some  compensatory  recognition  of 
their  talents  in  the  encouragement  and  plaudits  of  their  com- 
panions and  friends,  they  have  been  stimulated  to  cultivate 
and  extend  the  faculty  until  it  acquired  for  them  some  degree 
of  celebrity.  If  they  could  infuse  into  the  feelings  of  their  ac- 
quaintances the  same  degree  of  amusement  by  the  act  of  im- 
itating men  who  possess  no  peculiarity,  they  would  attain  the 
same  degree  of  success  which  marks  their  labors  when  taking 
off  the  manners  of  the  odd  and  the  curious.  The  evanescent 
distinction,  or  rather  notoriety  which  is  won  by  this  exercise, 
is  the  grand  incentive  which  conducts  the  accomplishment  to 
a  full  growth  and  expansion. 

In  the  further  prosecution  of  this  subject,  it  may  be  sug- 
gested that  there  is  a  great  number  of  persons  who  find 
themselves  involuntarily  gliding  into  the  imperfections  of 
enunciation,  which  cling  to  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  whose 
preaching  they  are  destined  frequently  to  hear.     They  appa- 


158  THE  IMITATIVE  FACULTIES. 

rently  catch  by  absorption  at  times,  the  nasal  twang,  the 
drawling  monotony  of  voice,  and  sometimes  the  vociferous 
rant  of  the  preacher  under  whose  ministrations  they  usually 
or  even  occasionally  sit.  This  assimilation  to  an  imperfect 
speaker  is  not  in  all  cases  permanent ;  it  prevails  in  patches, 
or  to  a  partial  extent,  and  is  usually  checked  and  repressed  by 
a  judicious  speaker,  whenever  he  observes  its  presence  in  the 
style  of  his  own  enunciation.  But  the  fact  serves  to  show 
the  susceptibility  of  human  nature  to  contract  any  prominent 
trait  in  the  manners  or  habits  of  those  with  whom  it  may  be 
frequently  brought  in  contact. 

It  has  often  been  the  experience  of  persons  who  have  par- 
ticipated in  the  duties  of  deliberative  assemblies,  to  find,  at 
the  close  of  months  after  the  expiration  of  their  labors,  that 
their  own  elocution  at  the  bar  or  on  the  hustings,  presented 
very  legible  traces  of  the  style  and  intonation  of  some  speak- 
er, whose  voice  had  frequently  descended  on  their  ears,  in 
the  business  of  legislation.  And  in  this  case  they  were  not 
the  defects  of  the  particular  speaker  which  were  involunta- 
rily imbibed ;  they  were  the  valuable  properties  in  the  de- 
livery  of  some  distinguished  debater,  which  silently,  but  per- 
haps too  transiently,  insinuated  themselves  into  the  enuncia- 
tion of  the  persons,  who  recognized  the  similarity  with  some 
degree  of  surprise. 

It  may  be  thought  by  the  reader  that  an  exceedingly  ex- 
cursive range  has  been  assumed  in  this  chapter,  but  the  pro- 
position which  it  has  been  designed  to  establish,  is  one  of 
incalculable  importance  to  the  student  of  elocution,  and  no 
expenditure  of  words  can  be  considered  too  extravagant, 
which  would  serve  to  imbue  the  juvenile  mind  with  a  practi- 
cal and  available  faith  in  the  soundness  and  validity  of  the 
views  here  presented. 

The  object  in  introducing  so  many  examples  from  human 
life,  on  the  subject  of  the  imitative  flvculties  of  mankind,  has 
been  to  illustrate  the  capability  which  exists  in  every  human 


THE  IMITATIVE  FACULTIES.  159 

being,  endowed  with  a  respectable  quickness  of  apprehen- 
sion, of  transferring  to  his  own  person  any  prominent  pecu- 
liarity which  exists  in  the  manners,  motions,  and  voice  of 
another,  whether  that  peculiarity  be  stamped  with  the  graces 
of  excellence,  or  marred  by  the  taint  of  deformity. 

It  may  be  alleged  as  an  objection  to  the  foregoing  propo- 
sition, that  the  defective  peculiarities  of  our  race  are  much 
easier  of  acquisition,  than  the  adorning  excellences  of  their 
characters.  This  objection  is  fortified  in  some  degree  by  a 
theory  coeval  with  the  origin  of  man,  and  which  proclaims 
that  every  human  possession  which  is  commended  to  our 
love  and  admiration  by  great  intrinsic  value,  appeals  to  labor 
and  time  to  secure  its  perfection. 

It  is  the  assistance  of  this  very  theory  which  we  invoke, 
in  order  to  render  effective  and  beneficent  the  proposition 
which  has  been  feebly  presented  in  this  chapter.  The  young 
aspirant  for  the  utility  and  glory  of  eloquence  is  earnestly 
and  affectionately  invited  to  encounter  the  most  irksome  and 
persevering  toils  in  the  precious  enterprise  of  plucking  from 
the  example  of  others  and  rendering  them  his  own,  those 
shining  graces  and  qualities  which  illuminate  and  guide  the 
counsels  of  peaceful  wisdom.  But  it  is  cheering  to  be  assur- 
ed that  labor  can  win  for  a  human  being,  these  almost  divine 
accomplishments. 

It  will  occur  to  every  intelligent  reader,  that  those  who 
have  enrolled  themselves  amongst  the  wonders  of  the  era  in 
which  they  prospered,  in  the  character  of  artists,  sculptors, 
and  painters,  have  perfected  themselves  in  these  much-ad- 
mired accomplishments,  not  merely  by  the  habit  of  observing 
the  beautiful  and  perfect  passages  in  celebrated  paintings  and 
statuary,  in  a  blended  form  or  taken  as  a  whole,  but  it  is 
also  an  incontestible  proposition,  that  the  most  renowned 
painters  and  sculptors  have  habitually  indulged  themselves 
in  the  practice  of  singling  out  the  most  attractive  traits  in 
each  work  of  art,  and  of  transferring  those  particular  pass- 


160  THE  IMITATIVE  FACULTIES. 

ages  or  features  to  a  work  or  production  of  their  own  crea- 
tion, when  occasion  or  opportunity  would  permit  it. 

The  faithful  pen  of  history  has  imparted  to  us  the  intelli- 
gence that  many  of  the  most  finished  models  in  oratory,  who 
who  have  charmed  admiring  assemblies  and  countries  with 
their  eloquence,  were  eager  in  the  desire  to  imbibe  improve- 
ment from  every  living  fountain;  that  they  extracted  some 
endowment  of  personal  grace  and  motion  from  every  finished 
speaker  or  actor  who  displayed  his  powers  in  their  presence, 
and  that  they  also  caught  some  effective  tone  of  music  from 
every  superior  voice  which  was  employed  in  executing  any 
intellectual  mission  in  their  hearing. 

It  is  said  of  William  Pinkney,  who  occupied  the  top- 
most round  on  the  ladder  of  forensic  celebrity  in  this  coun- 
try, that  when  representing  the  United  States  at  the  courts 
of  foreign  governments,  he  worshipped,  with  the  impassion- 
ed spirit  of  pilgrim  devotion,  at  every  shrine  which  pre- 
sented to  his  colossal  and  ardent  intellect  the  faintest  as- 
surance of  improvement  in  oratory.  He  was  a  constant 
and  vigilant  observer  of  the  most  finished  speakers,  both  in 
the  Parliament  and  in  the  courts  of  justice  in  Britain,  as  has 
been  revealed  to  us  in  his  personal  correspondence.  And 
the  voice  of  tradition  informs  us  that  when  stationed  at  the 
court  of  Naples,  that  he  observed  the  most  finished  specimens 
of  statuary  with  the  enthusiasm  of  an  antiquary,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  snatching  from  these  works  of  art  any  special  grace 
of  attitude  or  posture  which  engaged  his  admiration,  for  the 
purpose  of  engrafting  them  on  his  own  manner  in  speaking. 

And  the  votary  of  eloquence  should  not  be  palsied  when 
success  shall  not  attend  his  earliest  attempts  to  command  the 
brighter  graces  in  speaking  which  captivate  his  heart.  Un- 
faltering perseverance  in  reaching  atlcr  any  coveted  beauty 
in  the  style  or  manner  of  a  finished  orator,  will  ultimately 
place  it  within  his  grasp,  as  surely  as  he  may  be  able  to 
aspire  to  its  acquisition.     And  he  recognizes  the  most  cheer- 


DELIBEEATION  AND  SELF-POSSESSION.  161 

ing  guarantees  for  the  verity  of  this  proposition,  in  the  broad 
and  incontrovertible  fact  that  time  and  labor  have  never 
yet  failed  to  achieve  for  an  intelligent  mind  any  earthly  prize 
which  the  universal  sentiment  of  mankind  had  not  tacitly 
inscribed  upon  the  record  of  impossibilities. 


CHAPTER   XLVI. 

DELIBERATION   AND   SELF-POSSESSION   NECESSARY    BOTH   IN   THE    OPENING 
AND   IN   THE   PROGRESS   OF   AN   ARGUMENT. 

As  a  lady  who  has  been  endowed  by  nature  with  but  a 
frugal  share  of  personal  beauty,  will  enhance  her  attractions 
for  the  evening  by  joining  a  dancing  assembly  with  court- 
ly elegance  and  grace,  so  a  speaker  of  barely  respectable  en- 
dowments, may  magnify  his  influence  and  fascination  as  a 
debater,  by  opening  an  argument  with  an  appropriate  meas- 
ure of  deliberation  and  self-possession. 

And  a  speaker  should  never  adopt  a  hurried  manner  in 
opening  a  speech,  but  in  one  instance,  and  that  is  when  he 
takes  some  concluding  remark  of  the  speaker  who  has  last 
preceded  him,  and  commences  his  own  argument  with  a  re- 
ply to  such  concluding  sentence.  In  this  solitary  instance,  he 
may  begin  his  argument  by  the  time  the  opposite  speaker 
has  touched  his  seat,  and  whilst  the  replying  speaker  is 
scarcely  erect  in  rising  from  his  own.  If  an  apt  reply  to  the 
concluding  remark,  or  indeed  to  any  important  remark  of  an 
adverse  speaker,  shall  be  made  under  the  circumstances  just 
specified,  the  opening  remarks  of  the  replying  speaker  will 
not  only  be  appreciated  for  their  own  intrinsic  value,  but 
they  will  secure  a  favorable  reception  for  the  sequel  of  the 
speech. 


162  DELIBERATION  AND  SELF-POSSESSION. 

Under  all  other  circumstances,  except  those  just  pointed 
out,  a  debater  should  open  an  argument  with  a  degree  of 
deliberation  and  serene  self-possession  which  indicate  that 
he  is  perfectly  at  home  on  the  intellectual  ground  over  which 
he  is  about  to  tread.  It  is  desirable  that  a  speaker  should 
not  only  appear  to  be  at  home,  but  that  he  should  really  feel 
himself  to  be  so  ;  but  if  he  may  not  be  adequate  to  the  re- 
ality, he  should  certainly  affect  by  his  manner  to  be  perfect- 
ly at  ease,  both  in  commencing  and  in  prosecuting  an  argu- 
ment. For  self-possession  in  performing  all  the  duties  of 
life,  especially  those  of  a  high  and  responsible  character,  is  a 
draft  upon  the  admiration  of  the  world,  which  wil  Inever  be 
dishonored.  And  even  if  an  affectation  of  ease  and  self-pos- 
session by  a  speaker  should  be  skilfully  executed,  it  will  tell 
as  loudly  for  him  with  his  audience  as  the  reality  itself,  for 
they  will  not  be  able  to  discriminate  between  the  genuine  coin 
and  the  counterfeit,  if  the  latter  should  be  adroitly  assumed. 

During  the  progress  of  an  argument,  a  speaker  should 
uniformly  proceed  at  a  deliberate  and  measured  pace,  and 
should  never  permit  himself  to  slide  into  a  hurried  manner. 

There  have  been  occasionally  eminent  debaters  who  posted 
with  lightning  celerity  through  an  argument,  and  there  was 
one  of  that  description  whose  colossal  powers  both  illumin- 
ated and  adorned  the  highest  legislative  counsels  (of  this 
country)  for  a  series  of  years.*  But  debaters  who  are  so 
largely  endowed  by  nature  and  cultivation  as  the  one  to  whom 
we  have  just  referred,  may  secure  an  ascent  to  glory  by  a 
measure  of  giant  strength  which  will  tread  under  foot  all  de- 
fects of  manner.  But  even  debaters  of  the  loftiest  reach  of 
intellect  will  receive  a  vastly  higher  estimate  as  speakers,  if 
their  delivery  is  commended  to  the  public  taste  by  a  manner 
which  is  easy  and  deliberate,  instead  of  being  hurried.  For 
the  direct  tendency  of  a  rapid  enunciation  is  to  produce  the 
impression  with  an  audience  that  the  speaker  is  diffident  of 

*  The  Lamented  Culhoun. 


THE   PROPER  LENGTH  OF  A  SPEECH.  163 

his  own  powers,  or  wishes  to  hurry  through  a  very  onerous 
task,  or  that  his  mind  has  been  imperfectly  disciplined  by 
education,  or  that  he  is  compelled  to  proceed  at  a  rapid  rate 
because  his  mind  is  not  provided  with  a  proper  amount  of 
ballast  to  hold  it  to  a  dignified  and  steady  pace  in  debate. 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 

SPEAKING  CONSIDERED  "WITH  EEGARD  TO  THE  LENGTH  OF  A  SPEECH. 

In  deciding  a  proposition  of  the  character  which  is  indicat- 
ed by  the  head  prefixed  to  this  chapter,  the  business  of 
speaking  must  be  considered  with  reference  to  the  present 
condition  of  the  world.  During  more  remote  periods  in 
the  history  of  our  race,  and  even  within  the  limits  of  the 
present  century,  when  the  faculty  of  efiective  and  polished 
speaking  was  confined  to  comparatively  few  persons,  there 
was  no  conventional  or  prescribed  limit  annexed  to  the  space 
of  time  which  might  be  comprehended  within  the  limits  of 
a  speech.  Unless  the  speaker  should  be  addressing  some 
tribunal  or  body,  the  legal  term  of  whose  duration  was  ex- 
ceedingly brief,  or  some  meeting  or  assembly  which  would 
dissolve  under  the  influence  of  rules  drawn  from  considera- 
tions ab  inveniento,  the  day  it  convened,  he  might  con- 
tinue to  speak  from  day  to  day  for  an  endless  succession  of 
days,  making  the  verbal  blast  of  one  day  serve  only  as  a 
starting  point  for  a  prodigal  expenditure  of  windy  rhetoric 
on  the  next.  It  is  true  that  a  web  of  loquacity  woven  out  to 
such  an  interminable  length,  would  naturally  impair  the 
reputation  of  any  particular  speaker  for  brevity  in  his  dis- 
courses, and  would  inspire  his  audience  with  some  bodings 
of  fatigue  when  he  arose  to  address  them ;  but  still  his  lib- 
erty on  the  subject  of  speaking  was  as  broad  as  the  air.     He 


164  THE  PEOPEK  LENGTH  OF  A  SPEECH. 

was  restricted  by  no  rule  in  relation  to  the  matter,  except 
such  as  were  necessarily  provided  in  consonance  with  the  brief 
span  of  time  within  which  certain  tribunals  or  bodies  were 
confined,  or  which  might  flow  from  the  immemorial  usages 
connected  with  certain  meetings  of  the  people,  which  were 
dictated  by  mere  convenience. 

But  the  world  within  the  last  twenty  years  even,  has 
passed  through  the  process  of  a  radical  and  entire  revolution 
on  this  subject.  From  the  more  extended  and  minute  cir- 
culation of  the  benefits  of  education,  from  an  indefinite 
multiplication  of  the  facilities  for  rapid  and  enlarged  inter- 
course with  mankind,  and  from  the  stimulating  influence  ex- 
erted by  the  spirit  of  the  American  Government  upon  the 
ambition  and  energies  of  man,  the  faculties  of  those  within 
the  sphere  of  its  influence  have  been  roused  to  an  intensity 
of  exertion  on  all  subjects,  unprecedented  in  the  annals  of 
our  race.  Whilst  the  transfusion  of  a  new  and  electric  ele- 
ment into  the  mental  and  moral  constitution  of  the  American 
people  has  prompted  them  to  explore  every  track  of  science, 
and  to  labor  in  every  field  of  enterprise,  they  have  not  proved 
insensible  to  the  alluring  rewards  which  cluster  upon  the 
path  of  oratorical  renown. 

Facility  in  speech  being  recognized  as  the  potent  and  uni- 
versal lever  which  elevates  the  ambitious  to  consideration  in 
neighborhoods,  counties,  districts.  States,  and  even  on  the 
broader  and  more  imposing  theatre  of  national  contention, 
speakers  have  sprung  up  in  a  degree  of  profusion  far  beyond 
the  demand  of  the  popular  wants  in  this  Confederacy.  Every 
neighborhood  and  county  cross  road,  now  presents  its  ora- 
torical champions ;  every  jolthead  who  has  sipped  even 
sparingly  of  Latin  and  Greek,  at  a  mushroom  university, 
thinks  he  incurs  immortal  infamy  unless  he  enters  the  arena 
and  becomes  a  speaker.  Every  coxcomb  who  has  learned 
to  write  a  joining  hand  so  as  to  be  legible,  at  a  country  school, 
or  to  calculate  the  cost  of  a  load  of  pumpkins,  on  an  ordinary 


THE  PEOPER  LENGTH  OF  A  SPEECH.  165 

slate,-  thinks  he  will  gain  a  crown  as  unfading  as  the  stars, 
by  seeing  his  name  registered  in  some  village  two-penny 
sheet,  as  the  orator  in  chief  of  some  piny  woods'  convention. 
Every  member  of  a  legislative  assembly,  no  matter  how 
freely  his  constituents  would  pardon  him  for  the  omission  of 
such  labors,  believes  he  will  go  down  to  posterity  with  a 
mark  upon  his  forehead  as  broad  as  the  brand  of  Cain,  if  he 
does  not  publish  three  or  four  columns  of  unmeaning  and 
vapid  verbosity  in  the  metropolitan  organ  of  his  party  for 
home  consumption.  The  truth  is,  that  speaking  may  soon 
become  almost  a  universal  attribute — things  are  rapidly 
verging  to  that  point,  when  every  human  being  will  become 
his  own  speaker,  and  when  the  number  of  those  who  speak 
will  swarm  like  the  locusts  of  Egypt. 

When  it  is  glaringly  evident  that  the  supply  of  public 
speakers,  in  this  country  at  least,  has  greatly  overpassed  the 
demand  for  labor  and  talent  of  that  description,  it  must  oc- 
cur to  every  rational  mind  that  some  precautions  must  be 
adopted  to  secure  to  every  interest  a  full  and  intelligible 
hearing  before  the  different  tribunals  which  dispose  of  the 
most  cherished  interests  of  life. 

In  the  popular  branch  of  Congress,  the  time  allowed  to 
each  speaker  on  the  floor  is  one  hour,  and  this  amount 
will  be  abridged  in  the  course  of  time,  as  the  House  of 
Representatives  augments  in  point  of  numbers,  until  it  will 
be  reduced  to  half  an  hour.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  allows  two  hours  for  the  argument  of  a  cause, 
except  in  cases  where  special  application  shall  be  made  for 
an  enlargement  of  the  time  allotted  to  the  counsel.  These 
restrictions  have  been  imposed  upon  the  original  freedom  of 
debate,  from  the  entirely  changed  character  of  the  United 
States  on  the  subject  of  speaking.  And  though  this  inno- 
vation on  the  ancient  latitude  of  debate  was  regarded  with 
some  degree  of  odium  and  distrust  at  its  early  introduction, 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  necessities  of  the  country  will 


166  THE  PEOPER  LENGTH  OF  A  SPEECH. 

gradually  cause  this  abridgment  of  the  liberty  of  debate  to 
insinuate  itself  into  every  deliberative  assembly,  and  per- 
haps court  of  justice  in  the  land. 

It  may  be  safely  suggested  to  the  judicious  and  intelligent 
student,  that  half  an  hour  is  the  eligible  and  golden  measure 
which  should  regulate  the  consumption  of  time  in  making  a 
speech  or  argument,  and  this  from  a  due  consideration  both 
of  what  is  demanded  by  the  daily  increasing  number  of 
speakers,  which  in  a  few  years  will  not  admit  of  more  than 
this  amount  of  time  being  enjoyed  by  a  single  speaker,  and 
also  from  a  calm  survey  of  what  is  enjoined  by  the  interests 
of  the  speaker  himself.  An  hour  is  usually  a  very  unobjec- 
tionable length  for  a  speech  if  it  should  be  well  employed, 
but  in  a  short  time  this  space  will  not  be  extended  to  speak- 
ers, from  the  supervening  force  of  circumstances  already 
mentioned.  And  in  addition  to  this  inducement  to  the  hab- 
itual abbreviation  of  speeches,  half-hour  arguments,  when 
pressed  by  luminous  and  vigorous  minds,  have  proved  the 
most  effective  in  the  annals  of  debate.  They  present  plainly 
and  forcibly  the  points  disclosed  and  the  arguments  and 
facts  by  which  these  points  are  fortified — they  are  not  di- 
luted in  point  of  strength  by  the  admixture  of  a  large  share 
of  useless  and  inappropriate  verbiage,  and  the  body  addressed 
is  sure  not  to  be  wearied  by  an  address  of  this  length  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  become  disgusted  with  the  speaker,  and  to 
depreciate  his  arguments.  By  selecting  this  particular  space 
of  time  too,  for  the  habitual  delivery  of  an  argument,  a 
speaker  will  greatly  narrow  the  field  of  his  own  labors,  and 
improve  the  quality  of  his  intellectual  wares.  When  there  is 
no  definite  length  prescribed  for  a  speech  in  the  speaker's 
own  mind,  he  is  apt  to  be  reaching  after  quantity  rather  than 
excellence,  and  he  will  cram  every  sort  of  lumber  into  an 
argument  which  presents  the  faintest  approximation  to  rea- 
soning. When,  on  the  contrary,  his  time  for  discussing  a 
question  is  short,  a  speaker  will  concentrate  his  attention  on 


THE  PEOPER  LENGTH  OF  A  SPEECH.  167 

what  is  available  in  the  matter  of  his  defence,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  everything  in  the  shape  of  trash  and  tinsel. 

It  has  been  said  of  the  celebrated  Chancellor  of  England, 
Lord  Somers,  that  he  once  delivered  a  speech  in  the  House 
of  Peers  in  the  space  of  seven  minutes,  which  was  so  replete 
with  sense,  wisdom,  and  intelligence,  that  the  debate  was 
closed  on  his  resuming  his  seat,  every  one  being  satisfied 
that  so  wise  a  counsellor  had  embodied  in  his  address  all  the 
information  which  was  essential  to  the  proper  elucidation  of 
the  question  then  under  consideration.  The  illustrious  char- 
acter of  the  speaker,  it  is  highly  probable,  abridged  the 
debate  more  efiectually  than  the  flood  of  light  which  was 
reflected  by  him  within  so  brief  a  space  on  the  field  of  dis- 
cussion. For  it  would  appear  that  a  complex  question, 
which  was  to  be  determined  by  the  force  of  reasoning,  and 
not  by  the  application  of  any  decisive  fact  or  authority,  could 
not  be  perspicuously  presented  in  all  its  bearings,  within  the 
brief  space  which  has  been  attributed  to  the  venerable  Lord 
Chancellor.  Eor  the  very  fact  of  rendering  the  points  in- 
volved in  an  important  question  intelligible  to  an  audience, 
requires  that  these  points  should  receive  that  measure  of 
extension,  from  the  application  of  language  and  reasoning  to 
them,  that  the  precious  metals  require  from  the  appliances 
of  the  mint  when  they  are  in  the  process  of  being  impressed 
with  those  devices  which  may  qualify  them  to  act  as  a  con- 
venient circulating  medium.  The  points  embraced  in  a 
complex  question  sometimes  require  the  same  spreading  out, 
under  the  influence  of  the  reasoning  faculties,  which  the  scenes 
in  a  historical  or  sentimental  picture  require  from  the  brush 
of  the  artist,  to  make  them  perfectly  comprehensible  to  intel- 
ligent observation. 


168        THE  OPENING  OF  A  SPEECH. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

HOW  A  SPEECH  OR  ADDRESS  SHOULD  BE  COMMENCED. 

To  fix  with  absolute  precision,  by  the  application  of  a  pre- 
scribed code  of  regulations,  what  a  speaker's  manner  should 
be  in  the  opening  of  an  address,  would  be  about  as  difficult 
an  undertaking  as  an  attempt  to  engraft  on  the  person  of  a 
youth,  through  the  medium  of  theoretic  principles,  the  grace- 
ful and  polished  self-possession  of  the  accomplished  citizen  of 
the  world.  So  much  depends  in  the  acquisition  of  personal 
accomplishments,  on  the  union  of  close  and  devout  observa- 
tion with  instruction  flowing  from  the  experience  of  others, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  accomplish,  in  a  written  treatise,  much 
beyond  the  fact  of  pointing  out  to  the  student  captivating 
graces  to  be  won,  and  repulsive  defects  to  be  shunned,  in  the 
persons  of  prominent  living  actors*  upon  the  public  stage. 

It  is  a  fact  which  is  everywhere  accessible  to  intelligent 
observation,  however,  that  there  are  various  passages  in  the 
delivery,  movements,  and  manners  of  certain  speakers,  which 
paint  upon  the  surface  of  the  mind  and  memory  vivid  and 
enduring  images  of  the  most  grateful  character,  whenever 
they  are  presented.  In  the  very  act  of  rising  from  his  seat, 
one  speaker  will  communicate  a  fascinating  charm  to  an 
assembly  by  the  grace  of  his  manner.  Another  sends  a 
thrill  of  delight  through  a  multitude  by  the  first  sound 
which  drops  from  his  voice,  so  intelligent  is  the  intonation  it 
emits.  A  third  will  excite  glowing  expectations  in  the 
breast  of  an  audience,  by  the  classic  sort  of  method  with 
which  he  arranges  his  papers  preparatory  to  participating  in 
debate ;  and  a  fourth  will  invest  the  chair  of  the  presiding 
officer  in  a  deliberative  body,  which  is  usually  a  seat  of  bar- 
ren formalities,  with  the  most  engaging  elegancies  of  life. 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  SPEECH.         169 

One  of  the  most  powerful  and  accomplished  debaters  of 
modern  times,  Daniel  Webster,  has  pronounced  eloquence 
itself  to  be  "  action,  god-like  action."  And  in  opening  his 
celebrated  speech  in  reply  to  that  brilliant  and  graceful  or- 
nament of  every  attribute  of  his  countrymen  which  may  be 
considered  glorious  and  ennobling,  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  in  the 
debate  which  arose  on  Foote's  resolutions,  it  is  said  that  he 
yielded  to  his  audience,  in  his  own  demeanor,  a  practical  ex- 
emplification of  the  touchhig  power  of  action.  On  the  21st 
of  January,  1829,  when  the  orders  of  the  day  were  taken  up 
by  the  senate,  several  speeches  having  been  then  made  on 
the  resolutions  in  question,  by  Messrs.  Webster,  Hayne,  and 
Benton,  Mr.  Chambers  of  Maryland  rose  and  expressed  a 
hope  "  that  the  senate  would  postpone  the  discussion  until 
Monday,  as  Mr.  Webster,  who  had  taken  part  in  it,  had  un- 
avoidable engagements  out  of  the  senate,  and  could  not  con- 
veniently attend  that  day."  Mr.  Hayne  rose  and  said,  "  that 
something  had  fallen  from  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
which  had  created  sensations  from  which  he  would  desire  at 
once  to  relieve  himself — the  gentleman  had  (referring  to  an 
unanswered  speech  of  Mr.  Webster,  made  a  few  days  pre- 
viously) discharged  his  weapon^  and  he  (Mr.  H.)  wished  for 
an  opportunity  to  return  the  fire.''''  Mr.  Webster  remarked 
"  that  he  was  ready  to  receive  if,  and  wished  the  discussion  to 
proceed.^''  Mr.  Hayne  then  took  the  floor,  and  spoke  at 
length.  After  which,  Mr.  Webster  rose,  and  delivered  that 
reply  which  has  acquired  such  an  unlimited  celebrity  in  the 
reading  world.  And  it  has  been  said  by  gentlemen  of  great 
elevation  of  character  and  position,  who  were  observers  of 
the  debate  referred  to,  that  Mr.  Webster's  acceptance  of  Mr. 
Hayne's  implied  challenge  to  continue  the  debate  at  once, 
exhibited  an  air  of  majestic  authority  which  might  have 
served  as  a  rebuke  even  to  royalty  itself. 

Elegant  and  graceful  action  may  gild  over  some  of  the 
darkest  and  most  repulsive  duties  of  human  life,  as  it  cer- 


170  THE  OPENING  OF  A  SPEECH. 

tainly  veils  from  detection  the  hideous  mien  of  some  of  the 
most  fiendish  actions.  John  Randolph,  in  speaking  of  the 
great  suavity  and  courtesy  of  Sir  John  Bayley,  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  King's  Bench  in  England,  gave  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  his  graceful  demeanor,  that  some  gentleman  observ- 
ed "  that  Sir  John  was  so  supremely  graceful  in  the  discharge 
of  his  judicial  duties,  that  it  must  be  a  luxury  even  to  be 
sentenced  to  death  by  him."  And  a  bailiff  is  somewhere 
commended  for  the  charming  politeness  with  which  he  could 
conduct  a  prisoner  to  jail ;  and  a  sheriff  for  the  soothing  as- 
siduity and  tenderness  with  which  he  would  adjust  the  hang- 
man's knot  on  the  neck  of  a  convict. 

A  speaker  unquestionably  possesses  graces  of  manner  and 
of  delivery  which  may  be  in  some  degree  innate  or  peculiar 
to  himself;  but  that  he  may  add  to  and  enlarge  the  field  of 
his  attractions,  by  an  intelligent  and  persevering  observation 
of  the  action  of  his  fellow  beings,  is  a  proposition  so  simple 
in  its  character  as  to  dispense  with  the  labors  of  a  pains-tak- 
ing demonstration. 

A  speaker  in  commencing  an  argument,  should  never  take 
his  position  at  a  point  too  remote  from  his  audience.  If  he 
is  addressing  a  jury,  he  should  never  get  at  a  distance  great- 
er than  five  feet  from  it,  if  he  may  command  a  choice  of  po- 
sitions. In  a  deliberative  or  popular  assembly,  he  should 
take  his  position  about  the  centre  of  the  audience  he  may 
be  addressing,  or  by  all  means  at  that  point  in  the  space  oc- 
cupied by  his  audience  which  will  afford  its  members  the 
fairest  opportunity  of  observing  and  hearing  him,  and  which 
at  the  same  time  will  yield  to  him  the  best  means  of  speak- 
ing to  the  assembly  as  if  he  was  addressing  each  individual 
in  it. 

The  benefit  which  a  speaker  derives  from  being  near  the 
body  to  which  his  remarks  may  be  addressed,  and  particu- 
larly a  jury,  is  that  sympathy  which  flows  from  their  seeing 
him,  hearing  him  distinctly,  and  in  possessing  the  power  of 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  SPEECH.        171 

marking  with  precision  the  particular  gesture  and  expression 
of  countenance  which  accompanies  each  idea  or  proposition 
he  presents  for  their  consideration. 

If  a  person  should  take  his  position  at  the  door  of  the  house 
in  which  he  may  be  discoursing,  having  an  audience  in  his  rear, 
to  whom  he  never  turns  his  face  in  speaking,  but  keeps  his  face 
towards  persons  outside  of  the  house,  all  the  time  occupied 
by  the  speaking,  that  portion  of  the  assembly  in  the  house, 
without  including  the  remotest  suspicion  of  a  slight  being  of- 
fered to  them  by  the  speaker,  will  not  be  as  much  influenced 
or  affected  by  the  remarks  delivered  by  him,  as  that  portion 
of  his  audience  which  were  located  in  front  of  him.  And 
why  not  1  Because  they  were  destitute  of  that  measure  of 
sympathy  with  the  speaker;  in  conducting  the  business  of 
speaking;  which  emanates  from  the  great  natural  appliances 
which  most  successfully  touch  the  strings  of  human  sympa- 
thy, the  expressions  of  the  countenance  and  the  action  of  the 
person  and  hands.  But  that  portion  of  the  audience  in  the 
house,  which  never  saw  the  face  of  the  speaker,  would  be 
much  more  actively  influenced  by  his  remarks  than  would 
be  a  number  of  hearers  outside  of  the  house,  who  could  dis- 
tinctly hear  every  remark  uttered  by  the  speaker,  but  who 
could  not  get  a  glimpse  of  his  person  at  all. 

As  a  general  proposition,  a  speaker  should  not  commence 
the  business  of  speaking  immediately  on  rising  from  his  seat, 
but  should  take  sufficient  time  to  survey  his  audience,  and  to 
collect  his  ideas  with  every  appearance  of  the  calmest  self- 
possession  and  of  respectful  but  easy  confidence.  After  a 
few  preliminary  moments  thus  occupied,  he  should  com- 
mence his  remarks  in  a  moderate  tone  of  voice,  and  in  such 
a  way  as  to  introduce  the  subject  before  him  directly  to  the 
attention  of  his  audience.  He  should  also  take  due  care  to 
begin  his  remarks  with  the  briefest  sentences  within  the  reach 
of  his  powers.  For  no  circumstance  is  better  calculated  to 
throw  a  speaker  out  of  an  easy  style  of  enunciation  than  a 


172  THE  OPENING  OF  A  SPEECH. 

long  sentence  at  the  very  opening  of  an  argument.  It  re- 
quires a  great  expenditure  of  breath  to  speak  one  of  these 
sentences  through,  where  it  is  so  long  before  a  pause  is 
reached.  And  independent  of  the  irksomeness  of  the  opera- 
tion connected  with  the  delivery  of  such  sentences,  it  is  diffi- 
cult in  speaking,  as  it  is  in  singing,  to  blend  any  particular 
measure  of  music  or  intonation  with  the  speaking  of  them. 
And  if  the  measure  or  music  of  the  speaker  should  be  wrong 
at  the  commencement  of  the  speech,  as  it  will  be  difficult  to 
rectify  it  when  he  has  once  gotten  under  way,  his  style  of 
speaking  will  be  apt  to  continue  erroneous  through  the  whole 
speech. 

An  exceedingly  graceful  and  convenient  way  of  commenc- 
ing an  argument  to  a  jury  or  to  an  assembly  of  any  descrip- 
tion, where  the  speaker  follows  immediately  after  a  debater 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  question,  is  to  take  some  propo- 
sition of  the  speaker  who  has  just  concluded,  and  to  make 
some  remarks  on  that  in  the  very  act  of  rising.  This  forms 
one  of  the  most  simple  and  agreeable  methods  of  opening  an 
argument  which  is  known  to  the  speaking  world,  for  it  at 
once  introduces  the  speaker  and  the  subject  to  the  jury  or 
audience  in  a  very  practical  and  easy  manner,  without  the 
vapid  circumlocution  which  is  usually  embraced  in  an  exor- 
dium. And  in  taking  up  at  the  start,  and  in  the  very  act  of 
rising,  some  proposition  of  the  preceding  speaker,  the  one 
who  is  engaged  in  answering  the  other  may  remark  by  way 
of  commencing,  "  that  he  entirely  concurs  with  the  gentle- 
man on  the  opposite  side  in  the  opinion  that  the  case  is  a 
plain  one,  but  not  plain  for  the  benefit  of  the  gentleman  and 
his  client."  Or  he  may  express  a  concurrence  with  the  pre- 
ceding counsel  or  speaker,  in  any  proposition  or  affirmation 
he  may  choose,  but  deny  the  application  of  the  proposition 
for  the  benefit  of  the  opposing  speaker  and  his  side. 

Another  convenient  way  of  opening  an  argument,  is  to 
commence  it  just  at  the  very  point  where  the  preceding 


THE  MOST  SUITABLE  SPEECHES.  178 

speaker  leaves  it,  by  selecting  some  fact  which  conflicts  with 
the  principles  and  propositions  urged  by  the  opposing  coun- 
sel, and  that  in  the  very  act  of  rising.  Or  the  speaker  who 
follows  immediately  after  another,  may  with  infinite  benefit 
to  his  own  side  of  a  question,  observe  (if  the  anecdote  or  in- 
cident be  a  good  one)  that  the  gentleman  on  the  opposite 
side,  or  his  client,  reminded  one  very  forcibly  of  some  very 
apposite  and  ludicrous  incident  or  anecdote,  which  may  be 
then  stated  by  the  replying  speaker.  All  these  modes  of 
commencing  an  argument,  a  speech,  or  address,  have  been 
dictated  by  an  observation  of  the  great  benefit  which  has 
frequently  resulted  from  a  resort  to  them  by  debaters.  They 
are  easy  and  familiar  in  their  nature,  and  are  calculated  to 
arouse  a  jury  from  a  state  of  torpor,  lethargy,  or  indifference, 
and  to  place  them  at  once  in  the  kindest  and  most  friendly 
relations  towards  the  speaker. 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 

WHAT   PARTICULAR    SPEECHES    A   PUPIL   SHOULD  SELECT   FOR   THE    EXERCISK 
OF   DECLAMATION. 

There  is  no  duty  which  devolves  on  a  speaker  who  may 
be  ambitious  of  acquiring  a  felicitous  and  graceful  enuncia- 
tion, which  requires  a  more  accurate  fulfilment,  than  the 
choice  of  the  speeches  which  he  is  to  read  or  declaim  in  his 
daily  exercises.  Whilst  a  comprehensive  system  of  discip- 
line might  prescribe  on  this  subject  a  recourse  to  the  pro- 
ductions of  all,  or  at  least  a  large  number  of  finished  perform- 
ers in  oratory,  for  the  purpose  of  attaining  facility  in  de- 
livering speeches  marked  by  every  variety  of  style,  yet  a 
regard  to  the  structure  of  our  nature,  which  is  dictated  by 


174  THE  MOST  SUITABLE  SPEECHES. 

the  faithful  counsels  of  experience,  loudly  warn  the  student 
against  the  adoption  of  any  such  course. 

Every  human  being,  when  he  is  engaged  in  reading  purely 
for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  should  certainly  read  the 
books  within  his  reach,  which  contain  the  most  precious 
lessons  of  wisdom,  the  most  just  and  vigorous  thoughts,  and 
the  profoundest  and  most  rational  views  of  human  nature, 
without  a  predominating  regard  to  the  peculiar  style  or  phrase- 
ology of  the  works. 

But  when  the  student  is  exploring  a  work  in  quest  of  an 
entirely  different  object — when  he  is  paying  his  devotions  to 
an  author  for  the  purpose  of  contracting  a  particular  mode 
of  expression,  or  of  grafting  upon  his  person  a  particular 
style  of  enunciation,  he  should  choose  with  the  most  punc- 
tilious accuracy,  that  work  which  extends  to  him  the  bright- 
est assurance  of  accomplishing  the  desired  object. 

If  a  book  of  speeches,  addresses,  or  essays,  containing 
sentences  of  great  length,  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
beginner  in  the  art  of  elocution,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
daily  read  aloud  or  declaimed  by  him,  they  would  inevitably 
exert  a  discouraging  or  damping  influence  over  his  ardor  in 
the  pursuit  of  improvement,  from  the  intrinsic  and  inherent 
difficulty  of  delivering  them. 

The  same  pernicious  influence  will  be  exerted  over  the  en- 
ergies and  industry  of  a  pupil  in  elocution  by  placing  in  his 
hands  speeches  for  declamation,  which  are  stamped  with  in- 
vincible obstacles  to  a  facile  and  smooth  enunciation,  which 
paralyzes  the  strength  and  revolts  the  taste  of  the  early  vo- 
tary of  science  or  of  classic  literature,  when  at  the  very 
threshold  of  his  researches,  a  work  exceedingly  difficult  of 
acquisition  is  given  him  to  study.  His  heart  falters  and  his 
industry  flags  from  the  vivid  apprehension  with  which  he  be- 
comes inspired  of  never  being  competent  to  accomplish  the 
enterprise  in  which  he  has  just  embarked. 

For  the  purpose,  then,  of  averting  a  difficulty  which  would 


THE  MOST  SUITABLE  SPEECHES.  175 

be  so  startling  to  the  young  mind  when  entering  on  a  fresh 
path  of  labor,  a  book  of  speeches  should  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  student  at  the  commencement  of  his  labors,  dis- 
tinguished for  the  brevity  of  its  sentences,  and  for  the  smooth 
flow  of  the  language  it  contains.  Speeches,  addresses,  or 
essays  of  this  kind  can  be  read  with  the  expenditure  of 
much  less  labor,  by  the  most  practised  reader  or  declaimer, 
than  productions  characterized  by  the  lumbering  length  of 
their  sentences ;  and  as  a  necessary  result  of  this  fact,  they 
can  be  spoken  or  declaimed  with  vastly  greater  facility  by 
inexperienced  speakers. 

The  juvenile  performer  will  find  it  greatly  to  his  interest 
to  read  and  declaim  speeches  of  the  preceding  description, 
because  it  should  be  his  chief  aim  when  laboring  to  improve 
himself  in  elocution,  to  master  and  to  reduce  into  his  perma- 
nent possession  some  very  desirable  and  accomplished  mode 
of  delivery,  which  may  have  been  previously  commended  to 
his  attention  by  a  judicious  counsellor,  or  which  had  been 
adopted  by  himself  under  the  influence  of  a  high  admiration 
for  it.  The  accomplishment  of  this  object  will  be  attended 
with  incalculable  difficulties,  if  the  works  of  a  writer  or 
speaker  should  be  assigned  him  for  daily  declamation,  in 
which  the  sentences  should  be  marked  by  unusual  length, 
and  in  which  the  language  might  be  deficient  in  smoothness 
and  flexibility. 

Every  citizen  of  this  country  who  may  have  enjoyed  the 
benefits  of  a  collegiate  or  academic  career,  in  which  the  ex- 
ercise of  declamation  was  included  as  a  branch  of  youthful 
discipline,  will  recur  with  pleasing  emotions  to  the  easy  and 
flowing  sentences  which  were  contained  in  the  speeches  de- 
livered by  Lord  Chatham,  Lord  Mansfield,  Lord  Erskine, 
and  William  Pitt,  whilst  the  speeches  of  Burke  and  Sheri- 
dan, though  adorned  by  the  most  precious  properties  of 
thought  and  language,  are  rendered  too  stiff*  for  easy  decla- 
mation from  the  length  of  their  sentences. 


176  THE  MOST  SUITABLE  SPEECHES. 

The  speeches  of  George  Canning,  Lord  Lyndhurst,  and  of  T. 
B.  Macaulay,  are  commended  to  the  consideration  of  a  pupil 
in  elocution  for  the  smoothness  of  their  language  and  the  neat- 
ness of  their  sentences,  whilst  those  of  Lord  Brougham,  though 
impressed  with  an  herculean  energy  of  thought,  and  enriched 
by  the  wealth  of  universal  acquisition,  are  difficult  to  declaim 
or  read,  owing  to  the  inordinate  length  of  their  sentences  and 
the  prevailing  stiffness  and  hardness  of  their  language. 

When  the  student  explores  the  American  field  of  debate, 
in  search  of  speeches  suited  to  disciplinary  declamation,  he 
will  realize  a  rich  vein  of  eloquence  which  immediately  suc- 
ceeded the  American  Eevolution,  and  which  may  be  said  to 
have  been  quickened  into  life  by  the  warm  breath  of  that  mem- 
orable period.  From  this  source,  a  speaker  who  is  desirous 
of  adding  fresh  resources  of  music  to  his  voice,  by  exercises 
in  declamation,  may  select  speeches  remarkable  both  for  the 
fervency  of  their  language  and  the  brevity  of  their  sentences. 

The  speeches  delivered  about  the  time  to  which  we  have 
just  referred,  by  that  imperishable  ornament  of  the  eloquence 
of  Virginia,  Patrick  Henry,  occupy  a  conspicuous  place  among 
the  intellectual  memorials  of  the  past.  They  are  uniformly 
pervaded  by  an  impassioned  glow,  by  a  strength  and  point 
of  language,  and  by  a  convenient  structure  of  the  sentences, 
which  fit  them  for  easy  declamation.  It  is  true  that  the 
language  of  that  celebrated  man,  like  his  character,  is  marked 
by  a  massive  solidity,  which  renders  the  words  which  were 
used  by  him  too  ponderous  in  many  instances  for  easy  de- 
clamation. But  this  impediment  may  be  vanquished  where 
it  occurs,  by  a  frequent  repetition  of  the  particular  sentences. 

The  speeches  of  Fisher  Ames  are  also  characterized  by  a 
felicity  and  smoothness  of  expression,  and  by  a  well-tempered 
animation,  which  adapt  them,  in  a  very  peculiar  degree,  to 
the  exercise  of  being  declaimed.  They  are  perhaps  smoother 
and  more  flexible  in  their  diction  than  those  of  Patrick  Henry, 
though  greatly  inferior  in  strength. 


THE  MOST  SUITABLE  SPEECHES.  177 

The  speeches  of  William  B.  Giles  are  also  stamped  in  a 
very  remarkable  degree  with  the  impress  of  those  remark- 
able traits  which  figured  so  prominently  in  his  intellectual 
composition.  They  are  distinguished  for  versatile  thought, 
fertile  invention,  ingenious  reasoning,  quick  repartee,  and  for 
great  sprightliness  of  diction. 

There  were  other  eminent  statesmen  who  adorned  the  coun- 
cils of  the  nation  at  the  period  which  we  have  mentioned, 
and  whose  names  perhaps  fill  a  much  more  extended  circle 
of  celebrity  than  those  which  have  been  just  submitted  ;  but 
their  speeches  have  not  been  introduced  into  a  circulation  so 
extensive,  and  they  may  not  be  so  easily  commanded  by  a 
speaker  who  is  seeking  the  best  productions  for  the  exercise 
of  the  voice. 

In  descending  to  more  recent  times,  the  speaker  will  find 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  speeches  of  the  late  Mr.  Web- 
ster are  admirably  adapted  to  the  business  of  declamation, 
especially  those  which  were  addressed  to  popular  meetings. 
These  are  distinguished  for  a  brevity  of  sentence  and  a  vivid- 
ness of  spirit  which  could  not  be  legitimately  communicated 
to  many  grave  and  abstruse  questions,  to  grapple  with  which 
successfully,  required  the  heavier  metal  and  munitions  of 
reasoning.  There  are  many  of  his  congressional  speeches  too 
which  may  be  very  appropriately  and  easily  declaimed  by 
those  who  are  seeking  the  improvement  of  their  voice  and 
manner  by  preliminary  declamation.  What  is  usually  known 
as  his  speech  on  Foote's  resolutions,  may  be  regarded  as  be- 
ing particularly  suited  to  those  exercises  in  reading  and  re- 
citation which  are  practiced  by  public  speakers  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  voice.  But  there  are  portions  of  that 
speech  which  may  be  declaimed  by  a  pupil  with  infinitely 
greater  returns  of  benefit  than  the  speech  would  yield  in 
that  exercise,  considered  as  a  whole.  The  speaker  or  pupil 
will  be  enabled  to  make  the  proper  selections  from  this 
speech  by  referring  to  those  pages  or  paragraphs  in  it  which 

8* 


178  THE  MOST  SUITABLE  SPEECHES. 

may  be  pervaded  by  the  largest  share  of  animation,  united 
with  short  sentences,  with  the  frequent  recurrence  of  in- 
terrogatories, and  with  the  happiest  combinations  of  soft  and 
manageable  words.  The  speech  of  Mr.  Webster,  delivered 
in  the  prosecution  of  John  F.  Knapp  for  the  murder  of  Jo- 
seph White,  is  very  finely  adapted  to  the  business  of  declam- 
ation. 

The  speeches  of  the  late  Mr.  Calhoun,  though  in  all  the 
highest  properties  of  thought  and  reasoning,  they  possess  an 
intrinsic  value  which  should  endear  them  to  the  people  of 
America,  far  beyond  the  purest  and  largest  returns  of  gold 
which  they  have  received  from  their  newly-acquired  fields  of 
enterprize  in  the  West,  yet  these  productions,  like  the  pre- 
cious metal  to  which  we  have  referred,  are  distinguished  for 
their  weight  as  well  as  for  their  value.  That  eminent  states- 
man and  almost  matchless  logician,  estimated  language,  as  he 
observed  in  one  of  his  early  congressional  speeches,  '•'-^purely 
as  a  scaffolding  for  tliought^  He  seemed  to  scorn  everything 
which  approached  figurative  ornament  or  verbal  decoration, 
and  adopted  that  species  of  language,  both  in  regard  to  the 
words  and  the  mass  of  its  integral  elements,  in  its  single  and 
in  its  blended  terms,  which  promised  to  convey  his  ideas 
most  forcibly  and  perspicuously  to  his  audience.  Hence  the 
speeches  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  similar  to  those  of  Lord  Brougham, 
and  those  of  many  other  intelligences  which  stand  like  py- 
ramids upon  the  plane  of  this  world's  history,  are  deficient 
in  that  brevity  of  sentence  and  smoothness  of  language  which 
would  fit  them  for  the  exercise  of  disciplinary  declamation. 

Many  of  the  speeches  of  the  late  Mr.  Clay  may  be  very 
appropriately  and  beneficially  adopted  for  the  exercise  of  de- 
clamation by  those  who  are  seeking  improvement  in  the  field 
of  popular  eloquence.  But  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  it 
may  be  very  truthfully  observed,  that  the  speeches  delivered 
by  this  eminent  and.  gifted  man  during  the  progress  of  the 
war  with  Great  Britain,  were  marked  by  a  gushing  fervency 


THE   MOST  SUITABLE  SPEECHES.  179 

©f  spirit,  by  an  ethereal  flow  of  patriotic  sentiment,  by  a  mu- 
sical structure  of  sentence,  and  by  an  impassioned  glow  of 
language,  which  would  offer  to  the  pupil  in  elocution  a  much 
more  alluring  field  of  selection  than  the  speeches  which  were 
delivered  in  the  more  mature  and  advanced  periods  of  his 
public  life.  The  speech  which  he  delivered  in  the  Senate,  in 
1841,  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Tyler's  veto  of  the  Bill  proposing 
to  re-charter  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  was  regarded  at 
the  time  it  fell  from  his  lips  as  infinitely  surpassing  (in  point 
of  pure  and  impassioned  eloquence)  every  other  effort  which 
had  been  made  by  Mr.  Clay  since  the  period  of  the  war  dis- 
cussions. And  that  speech  would  furnish  a  very  suitable  ex- 
ercise for  a  pupil  in  elocution. 

The  speeches  of  the  late  Mr.  Hayne  of  South  Carolina, 
may  be  classed  amongst  the  most  eligible  specimens  of  elo- 
quence, in  the  business  of  declamatory  discipline,  which  have 
ever  emanated  from  the  National  Councils  of  America.  They 
breathe  throughout  an  elevation  of  sentiment,  a  purity  of 
feeling,  a  perfection  of  principle,  a  grandeur  of  aim,  a  quench- 
less soul  of  patriotism,  and  an  utter  isolation  from  all  the 
tainting  and  sordid  passions  of  life,  which  impart  a  glow  of 
inspiration  to  every  susceptible  heart.  But  when  these 
speeches  are  declaimed  by  one  who  has  made  any  pro- 
ficiency in  that  embellishing  art,  the  moral  and  intellectual 
ingredients  which  are  blended  in  the  composition  of  these 
speeches,  will  be  found  to  be  immensely  enhanced  in  point 
of  influence  by  the  simple  beauties  of  language  in  which 
their  sentimentality  and  reasoning  is  clothed.  The  fre- 
quent declamation  of  these  speeches  on  the  collegiate  stages 
of  the  United  States,  very  clearly  attests  the  high  estimation 
in  which  these  inimitable  memorials  of  departed  excellence 
are  held  by  cultivated  worshippers  at  the  shrine  of  eloquence. 
For  no  matter  how  exalted  the  sense  of  morality  may  be, 
which  pervades  a  speech  of  any  description,  and  no  matter 
how  uniformly  solid  its  intellectual  merits  may  be  the  am- 


180  THE  MOST  SUITABLE  SPEECHES. 

bition  of  the  young  candidate  for  oratorical  renown  runs  too 
high,  in  the  matter  of  selecting  speeches  for  declamation,  to 
permit  him  to  yield  an  attention  to  their  moral  and  intellec- 
tual properties,  so  close  and  concentrated  in  its  character  as 
to  avert  his  attention  from  those  elements  in  a  production, 
•which  might  commend  it  to  his  regard  as  a  suitable  exercise 
for  the  production  of  an  agreeable  and  musical  enunciation. 

The  speeches  of  the  late  George  McDuffie,  as  productions 
suited  to  the  exercise  of  declamation,  may  be  regarded  as 
being  rarely  surpassed  in  this  country,  or  on  any  other  theatre 
where  the  blessing  of  speech  may  be  prized  in  a  special  de- 
gree. They  are  distinguished  for  a  nervous  boldness  of 
language,  for  an  impetuous  fervency  of  spirit,  an  intensity  of 
devotion  to  the  matter  about  which  he  was  speaking,  and  by 
the  compendious  form  of  the  sentences,  which  gives  them  a 
peculiar  adaptation  to  effective  declamation. 

The  speeches  delivered  by  Edward  Everett  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  which  have  been  published,  also  present 
a  very  appropriate  field  for  the  selection  of  exercises  for 
declamation.  The  language  contained  in  them  is  distin- 
guished for  its  classic  polish  and  smoothness,  whilst  the  sen- 
tences are  unsurpassed  in  point  of  neatness. 

But  if  the  pupil  in  elocution  shall  venture  on  theological 
ground,  in  search  of  productions  for  declamation,  there  is 
nothing  which  has  fallen  either  from  the  lips  or  the  pen  of 
man  which  will  be  likely  to  surpass  the  sermons  which  were 
delivered  by  the  late  Doctor  Chaiming,  of  Massachusetts. 
There  is  about  these  sermons  a  tempered  animation,  a  brevity 
of  sentence,  and  a  classic  felicity,  purity,  and  softness  of  lan- 
guage, which  entitles  them  to  the  most  devout  and  impas- 
sioned regard  of  a  speaker  who  may  be  seeking  the  correc- 
tion of  his  voice  in  delivery  by  the  practice  of  declamation. 


THE  OBSERVATION  OF  AEGUMENTS.  181 


CHAPTER    L. 

THE  HABIT  OF  NOTING  DOWN  THE  POINTS  ASSUMED  BY  A  SPEAKER  IN  DE- 
LIVERING AN  ARGUMENT  WHERE  THE  OBSERVER  MAY  NOT  BE  CONCERNED 
HIMSELF. 

One  of  the  most  powerful  auxiliaries  in  training  the  human 
mind  for  conducting  a  discussion  with  skill,  regularity,  and 
success,  will  be  recognized  in  the  constant  practice  of  observ- 
ing, with  a  scrutinizing  degree  of  attention,  speakers  of  every 
description,  as  they  are  progressing  in  the  delivery  of  an 
argument,  speech,  essay,  or  address.  This  exercise  of  the 
mental  powers,  with  a  juvenile  candidate  for  the  benefits  and 
the  honors  of  eloquence,  will  be  found  to  rank  next,  in  point 
of  efficacy  and  importance,  to  the  discipline  involved  in  the 
actual  labor  of  preparing  a  speech  or  argument. 

The  course  here  enjoined  was  a  favorite  resort  with  the 
celebrated  William  Pitt,  and  he  acknowledged  its  charming 
efficacy  in  developing  the  irresistible  powers  as  a  debater, 
which  he  manifested  even  at  a  very  early  period  of  his  life, 
in  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain.  It  was  his  daily  habit, 
during  his  hours  of  leisure,  to  sit  in  the  gallery  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  to  note  down  in  his  mind  the  points  assumed 
by  the  different  speakers  of  celebrity,  to  examine  in  silence 
the  validity  of  these  points,  and  also  to  reflect  on  the  methods 
by  which  they  might  be  improved,  and  how  they  might  be 
answered. 

It  is  rare  that  we  find  a  person  endowed  with  a  tempera- 
ment so  stolid  and  apathetic  as  to  be  perfectly  impervious 
to  the  reception  of  some  small  degree  of  pleasure  from  lis- 
tening to  an  able  and  animated  argument.  But  it  is  not  the 
listless  and  superficial  attention  to  an  intellectual  perform- 
ance, which  yields  to  the  student  a  return  of  rich  benefits 


182  THE  OBSERVATION  OF  ARGUMENTS. 

and  blessings.  He  must  habituate  himself  to  the  practice 
of  yielding  to  an  argument  as  it  unfolds  itself  in  its  various 
divisions,  that  measure  of  abstract  and  concentrated  attention 
which  an  enthusiastic  aspirant  to  perfection  in  any  mechan- 
ical art  or  pursuit,  gives  to  an  accomplished  artizan  or  me- 
chanic, as  he  adds  one  part  to  another  in  perfecting  the  whole 
of  any  useful  and  complex  piece  of  machinery. 

With  an  attention  of  this  description  given  to  the  argu- 
ment of  a  luminous  and  enlightened  speaker,  one  would  be 
at  a  loss  to  determine  why  a  pupil  for  advancement  in  the 
accomplishment  of  debating,  should  not  be  benefited  to  an 
extent  corresponding  with  that  which  is  derived  by  students 
in  any  of  the  professional  departments  from  an  intelligent 
and  uniform  attention  to  the  lectures  of  their  respective  pro- 
fessors or  preceptors. 

When  a  susceptible  pupil  shall  have  received  the  benefit 
of  this  species  of  discipline  from  a  devout  and  patient  atten- 
tion to  speakers  in  the  pulpit,  at  the  bar,  and  in  delibera- 
tive assemblies ;  when  he  participates  in  conflicts  with  the 
master  minds  of  his  country,  on  the  various  theatres  of  in- 
tellectual contention ;  he  will  possess  the  same  advantage 
over  the  young  debater  whose  faculties  have  not  been  pre- 
viously practiced  in  this  way,  which  the  person  who  has  long 
received  instruction  from  an  expert  swordsman,  will  possess 
over  an  untutored  son  of  the  forest  in  any  grave  contention 
in  which  thQ  sword  may  be  appealed  to  as  an  arbiter. 


ONE  JUST  VIEW  OF  A  SUBJECT.  183 


CHAPTER   LI. 

THE   IMPORTANCE   OF   SECURING    ONE    CORRECT    VIEW,    IDEA,    OR   ARGUMENT 
IN  RELATION  TO  A  SUBJECT  ON  WHICH  A  SPEAKER  IS  ABOUT  TO  REASON. 

It  is  a  principle  in  the  process  of  reasoning  which  may  be 
legibly  revealed  to  an  intellect  in  the  perfection  of  its  matu- 
rity, but  which  may  readily  elude  the  observation  of  a  writer 
or  speaker  of  limited  experience,  that  when  a  debater  shall 
once  have  accomplished  the  preliminary  point  of  writing 
down  perspicuously  on  paper  the  premises  on  any  given 
subject  which  he  is  about  to  elucidate,  and  even  one  sound 
argument ;  that  he  is  then  prepared  to  progress  in  reasoning 
on  that  subject  until  he  reaches  its  close,  just  as  a  vessel  is 
ready  for  being  wafted  with  perfect  facility  over  the  surface 
of  a  smooth  sea,  when  her  canvas  is  fully  unfurled  and  pro- 
pelled by  brisk  and  propitious  breezes.  When  a  speaker 
shall  have  perfected  one  link  in  the  chain  of  reasoning, 
which  is  to  be  developed  in  the  discussion  of  any  particular 
subject,  he  may  then  rapidly  complete  other  links  in  suc- 
cession, until  he  has  finished  his  web  of  reasoning.  After 
this  incipient  step  is  adopted,  the  debater  may  safely  lay 
aside  his  paper  until  some  future  day,  if  the  exigencies  of 
some  approaching  occasion  shall  not  demand  a  more  speedy 
arrangement  of  his  thoughts.  For  a  brief  statement  of  the 
premises,  and  one  pertinent  and  just  view,  lucidly  drawn  off 
on  any  specific  subject,  are  seminal  principles  which  contain 
all  the  hidden  germs  of  reasoning  on  that  subject,  just  as  the 
acorn  contains  within  its  contracted  hull  the  oak  in  the  in- 
tegrity of  its  parts. 

The  philosophy  contained  in  the  proposition  just  affirmed, 
has  a  very  close  affinity  with  a  principle  which  discloses  itself 
very  clearly  in  operations  in  mathematical  or  arithmetical 


184  ONE  JUST  VIEW  OF  A  SUBJECT. 

science,  where,  if  one  branch  of  a  problem  or  sum  Is  cor- 
rectly disposed  of  by  a  student,  he  can  easily  subject  the 
subsequent  divisions  in  either,  to  the  control  of  his  under 
standing.  This  principle,  too,  is  very  closely  assimilated  to 
a  fact  which  discloses  itself  in  musical  exercises,  in  which,  if 
a  beginner  should  succeed  in  sounding  one  note  which  enters 
into  the  composition  of  a  tune,  with  perfect  accuracy,  he  can 
then  easily  progress  in  acquiring  in  succession  the  kindred 
notes  which  enter  into  the  formation  of  the  same  tune. 

Some  degree  of  minuteness  and  particularity  have  been 
used  in  the  explanation  of  the  principle  which  has  been  pre- 
sented in  this  chapter,  from  a  desire  to  demonstrate  to  the 
student  in  a  lucid  manner,  the  incalculable  convenience 
which  flows  from  once  securing  a  fair  start  or  beginning  in 
the  work  of  reasoning  on  any  given  subject.  The  accom- 
plishment of  this  object  secures  a  vast  abridgment  of  labor, 
for  when  the  student  shall  have  succeeded  in  expanding  the 
premises  of  any  selected  subject,  and  one  idea  legitimately 
connected  with  it,  he  has  a  broad  aperture  provided,  through 
which  he  may  intelligently  survey  the  whole  compass  of  that 
subject,  just  in  the  same  manner  that  he  can  command  a  per- 
fect survey  of  the  whole  space  enclosed  by  a  blank  wall, 
when  an  ample  gate  at  the  entrance  of  the  enclosui^e  is  thrown 
open  to  his  view. 

It  is  then  a  matter  of  incalculable  moment  to  a  writer  or 
speaker  to  secure  one  good  argument  or  idea  on  any  subject 
which  he  may  have  under  deliberation,  and  to  write  the  ar- 
gument or  idea  thus  produced,  immediately  .and  perspicu- 
ously off  on  paper.  For  other  arguments  and  ideas  will 
continue  to  come  within  the  reach  of  his  intellectual  vision 
on  the  same  subject,  if  he  continues  to  reflect  on  it,  as 
naturally  as  it  is  when  he  looks  in  at  the  window  or  door 
of  a  room  to  see  a  friend  who  is  setting  in  that  chamber, 
to  perceive  at  the  same  time  the  chair  in  which  that 
friend  is  sitting,  the  table  before  which  he  is  seated,  and 


WHEN  A  SPEAKER  SHOULD  CLOSE.  185 

every  other  visible  object  within  the  bounds  of  the  cham- 
ber. 

There  is  an  invisible  charm  connected  with  the  birth  of 
one  full,  healthy,  and  perfect  view  of  a  subject,  which  com- 
municates a  surprising  degree  of  fecundity  to  the  mind  of  a 
reasoner.  His  thoughts  may  be  rambling  over  the  theme 
before  him,  like  a  shipwrecked  mariner  over  a  dark  and 
dreary  waste,  without  a  gleam  of  light  to  cheer  the  heart, 
and  without  a  patch  of  verdure  to  refresh  the  eye.  But 
once  let  the  light  of  one  clear  view  of  the  subject  beam  upon 
the  mind,  and  the  mists  of  darkness  will  vanish  before  the 
luminous  rays  thus  let  in,  like  the  shades  of  night  before  the 
dawning  radiance  of  the  rising  sun,  and  the  light  will  con- 
tinue to  grow  brighter  and  clearer,  under  the  influence  of 
reflection,  until  he  may  survey  the  subject  in  all  its  relations 
and  bearings. 


CHAPTER    LII. 

WHEN  A  SPEAKER  SHALL  HAVE  ONCE  INDICATED  BY  THE  COURSE  OF  HIS 
REMARKS  THAT  HE  IS  ABOUT  BRINGING  AN  ARGUMENT  TO  A  CLOSE,  HE 
SHOULD  NEVER  TAKE  A  FRESH  START  IN  SPEAKING  ON  THE  OCCUR- 
RENCE   OF   A   NEW   IDEA    OR   FACT   TO    HIS   MIND. 

There  is  some  peculiarity  connected  with  the  manner  of 
every  one  who  participates  in  the  labor  of  speaking,  which 
clearly  indicates  to  intelligent  observation  when  he  is  verging 
to  the  close  of  his  remarks.  And  when  an  intimation  of 
this  kind  is  once  given  to  his  audience  by  a  speaker,  as  they 
will  prove  as  exacting  as  death  in  expecting  a  rigid  share  of 
fidelity  to  it  on  his  part,  he  should  never  disappoint  them  by 
taking  a  fresh  start  in  the  business  of  speaking,  should  a  new 
idea  occur  to  his  mind  or  an  omitted  fact  rise  to  his  recol- 


186  WHEN  A  SPEAKER  SHOULD   CLOSE. 

lection.  For  unless  he  should  be  a  speaker  of  uncommon 
fascination,  who  has  only  consumed  a  moiety  of  that  space 
which  is  usually  occupied  by  speakers  distinguished  for  the 
moderate  length  of  their  discourses,  his  audience  will  cer- 
tainly look  for  his  conclusion  with  some  degree  of  impa- 
tience, when  he  has  once  manifested  to  them  an  intention  to 
close.  And  an  addendum  which  he  may  annex  to  a  dis- 
course, or  argument  which  may  be  predicated  on  freshly- 
discovered  lights,  will  not  only  be  labor  lost,  but  it  will  be 
calculated  to  invest  with  dark  hues,  in  the  mind  of  an  audi- 
ence, the  anterior  part  of  the  argument  or  discourse,  which, 
but  for  the  after-piece,  might  have  left  a  fine  impression. 

The  body  of  men  which  is  addressed  by  any  person  is  im- 
pressed with  the  belief  that  it  has  rights  as  well  as  the  speak- 
er ;  and  when  he  has  once  prescribed,  by  his  manner,  where 
the  terminus  of  his  discourse  shall  be  located,  his  hearers  will 
regard  that  indication  as  a  tacit  specification  on  his  part  of  the 
amount  of  time  they  shall  expend  with  him  in  the  capacity 
of  listeners.  And  if  he  shall  blaze  up,  like  a  half-extinguished 
flame,  after  having  reached  what  his  audience  would  suppose 
to  be  his  closing  point,  they  will  regard  this  commencement 
de  novo  as  a  gratuitous  enlargement  of  authority  on  his  part. 
A  person  who,  as  an  act  of  grace  and  accommodation, 
authorizes  another  to  draw  upon  him  for  a  sum  of  money 
which  has  been  previously  specified  to  the  drawee  by  the 
drawer  himself,  will  feel  somewhat  irritated  at  finding  that 
double  the  amount  of  what  was  originally  requested  by  the 
drawer  himself  is  finally  inserted  in  the  draft  actually  drawn. 
An  audience  will  consider  a  fresh  start  on  the  part  of  the 
speaker,  after  he  has  once  indicated  that  his  discourse  is  coming 
to  a  close,  an  innovation  on  the  original  implied  contract,  exist- 
ing between  him  and  his  hearers,  pretty  much  after  the  same 
fashion  with  the  hypothetical  case  between  the  drawer  and  the 
drawee.  They  will  view  it  as  an  attempt  to  shoot  two  balls 
at  one-  load  out  of  a  gun  which  was  made  for  chambering  one. 


A  SKELETON  SYNOPSIS.  187 

The  proposition  has  all  the  truth  of  an  axiom,  that  every 
advocate  or  speaker  who  habitually  indulges  in  annexing 
addend  as,  postscripts,  codicils,  or  after-thoughts,  to  speeches 
already  concluded,  or  starts  as  it  were  on  a  newly-discovered 
trail,  when  his  argument  has  previously  given  symptoms  of 
a  dying  struggle,  will  certainly  disarm  of  its  power  the  par- 
ticular argument  in  which  the  enlargement  of  original  bound- 
aries ensues,  and  an  habitual  practice  of  the  kind  will  shed 
an  incurable  blight  on  his  influence  and  acceptancy. 


CHAPTER   LIII 

THE  PEACmCE  OF  NOTING  DOWN  IN  SUCCESSION  THE  PROMINENT  POINTS 
WHICH  MAY  BE  INVOLVED  IN  A  CASE  AT  LAW,  OB  ON  A  SUBJECT  WHICH 
HAS   BEEN    SET   FOR    DEBATE. 

It  should  prove  an  inflexible  rule  of  action  with  every 
speaker,  when  a  subject  is  presented  to  his  attention,  in  the 
discussion  of  which  he  must  necessarily  participate  at  any 
future  day,  to  fix  at  once  in  his  mind  the  prominent  points 
that  will  naturally  and  legitimately  arise  in  the  progress  of 
the  coming  debate. 

The  most  compendious  and  convenient  mode  by  which  to 
accomplish  this  object,  is  after  having  maturely  considered 
the  facts  blended  with  the  case  or  proposition  to  be  debated, 
to  note  down  in  the  smallest  conceivable  number  of  words, 
the  leading  points  which  must  inevitably  pertain  to  his  side 
of  the  question.  These  points  may  be  inscribed  on  the  page 
of  a  commonplace  book,  or  the  speaker  may  take  one-half 
of  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  having  folded  it  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  assume  the  form  of  an  entire  sheet,  he  may  inscribe  his 
heads  for  debate  for  the  sake  of  convenience  on  each  of  its 
outer  sides. 


188  A  SKELETON  SYNOPSIS. 

These  heads,  as  they  are  noted  down  in  order,  should  be 
marked  with  the  figures  1,  2,  3,  4,  and  so  on  in  succession,  or 
they  may  have  prefixed  to  them  the  different  letters  of  the  al- 
phabet, commencing  with  A,  to  denote  the  Cfl*der  in  which  he 
intends  to  discuss  them.  These  heads  or  joints  will  usually 
be  imprinted  upon  the  mind  and  memory  of  an  experienced 
speaker  by  the  time  the  ink  used  in  writing  them  is  dry  upon 
the  surface  of  the  paper.  But  for  the  purpose  of  placing  this 
matter  beyond  all  contingency  or  doubt,  he  should  concentrate 
his  powers  of  thought  on  each  of  these  heads  in  succession,  im- 
mediately after  they  have  been  noted  down,  until  he  shall  be 
satisfied  that  they  are  perfectly  fixed  in  his  memory.  And  he 
should  continue  to  glance  at  them  and  to  reflect  on  them  for 
the  purpose  of  rendering  them  familiar  to  his  mind,  until  the 
question  in  which  he  is  interested  shall  be  finally  disposed  of. 

These  heads  or  points  noted  down,  are  to  a  debater  what 
stage-houses  or  mile-posts  on  a  public  highway  are  to  a  trav- 
eller. They  serve  to  give  some  conception  of  distance,  prog- 
ress, and  termination.  If  a  traveller  should  once  pass  along 
a  public  road,  at  the  end  of  successive  divisions  of  which 
houses  occurred,  at  which  the  horses  were  changed,  or  at 
which  he  stopped  to  take  some  refreshment  himself;  when 
he  might  go  over  the  same  road  again,  his  apprehension  of 
the  progress  he  was  making  would  be  greatly  assisted  by  the 
presentation,  as  he  was  prosecuting  his  journey,  of  the  same 
bouses  at  which  he  formerly  stopped.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
the  road,  instead  of  being  enlivened  at  each  of  its  sides  by 
dwellings  of  any  description,  should  present  in  this  respect  a 
cheerless  blank,  a  person  who  had  once  travelled  over  it 
would  be  presented  with  no  memorials  to  fix  its  identity  in  his 
mind ;  and  when  he  passed  over  it  a  second  time,  he  would 
possess  but  an  obscure  perception  both  of  the  identity  of  the 
country  through  which  he  had  formerly  passed,  and  of  the 
progress  he  would  be  making  at  the  time. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  points  comprehended  in  a  subject  set 


A  SKELETON  SYNOPSIS.  189 

apart  for  debate,  which  are  noted  down  in  regular  order, 
even  on  a  small  slip  of  paper ;  they  serve  as  relief  points  to 
indicate  the  space  over  which  a  debater  is  to  travel,  what  he 
is  to  do  at  each  division  of  his  journey,  and  when  he  is  to 
consummate  it.  These  points  in  reality  constitute  the  case  or 
subject  itself  in  its  broadest  latitude,  and  no  speaker  who 
cherishes  a  just  regard  for  his  reputation,  should  ever  omit 
the  making  them.  For  notwithstanding  he  may  study  pro- 
foundly and  laboriously  authors  which  may  have  a  bearing 
on  the  subject  on  which  the  notes  have  been  taken ;  and  al- 
though he  may  write  closely  and  voluminously  on  the  sub- 
ject, independent  of  the  notes ;  yet  the  authorities  which  he 
collects  from  the  books,  and  the  views  which  he  has  copi- 
ously written  out  on  the  subject ;  should  be  arranged  in  such 
a  manner  in  his  mind  and  memory,  as  to  be  used  in  the  de- 
livery of  them  under  those  heads  to  which  the  authorities 
and  written  arguments  bear  a  particular  relation,  and  with 
which  they  may  correspond  in  nature  and  in  character. 

But  the  student  or  speaker  will  be  far  from  the  point  of 
having  completed  the  labors  devolving  upon  him,  in  noting 
down  on  paper  the  leading  points  connected  with  a  subject. 
He  must  revolve  these  heads  over  and  over  again  in  his  mind, 
with  the  view  of  collecting  the  best  resources,  in  the  shape 
of  facts  and  arguments,  with  which  to  fortify  his  points  when 
he  shall  reach  them  in  regular  succession.  If  he  has  at  com- 
mand any  amusing  incident,  any  historical  fact,  or  any  appo- 
site fragment  of  poetry,  which  has  an  application  to  the 
subject,  he  should  so  arrange  the  incident,  fact,  or  quotation 
in  his  mind  as  to  be  able  to  bring  it  to  bear  under  its  appro- 
priate head. 

In  addition  to  these  preliminary  cautions,  he  should  earn- 
estly reflect  on  the  species  of  artillery  with  which  his  adver- 
sary will  probably  assail  the  points  on  which  he  bases  the 
security  of  his  cause,  and  he  should  provide  a  corps  of  reserve, 
with  which  he  may  either  destroy  his  opponent  by  anticipa- 


190  AN  EXTENDED  SYNOPSIS. 

tion,  or  with  which  he  may  come  back  at  any  time,  in  the 
event  of  his  having  the  privilege  of  a  reply. 

And  it  also  devolves  on  a  judicious  speaker,  in  addition  to 
noting  down  his  own  leading  points  or  propositions,  to  write 
down  very  briefly  the  points  which  may  be  in  all  probability 
assumed  by  an  opposing  counsel  or  debater.  Those  points 
he  should  be  prepared  to  weaken  or  overthrow  by  arguments 
advanced  in  anticipation  of  their  coming  up,  or  by  replying 
to  them  when  once  they  shall  have  been  regularly  argued. 

The  process  of  noting  down  on  a  slip  of  paper  the  points 
or  propositions  which  must  legitimately  arise  in  the  discussion 
of  any  question  which  is  to  be  debated,  is  very  different  from 
what  is  usually  denominated  a  lawyer's  brief,  though  it  may 
accomplish  in  effect  the  same  objects.  What  is  commonly 
termed  a  brief,  comprehends  in  a  succinct  form  all  the  author- 
ities which  a  lawyer  intends  to  bring  to  bear  on  the  points 
involved  in  his  cause,  together  with  a  compendious  presenta- 
tion of  his  own  views  annexed  to  each  of  the  authorities  and 
points.  The  process  of  noting  down  the  heads  of  a  discourse 
or  argument,  here  suggested,  is  much  more  simple  in  its 
character,  for  only  the  heads  or  points  are  written  down  in 
succession  themselves,  in  as  few  words  as  a  due  regard  to 
perspicuity  will  permit.  The  process  is  so  very  brief,  that 
one  word  is  sometimes  used  to  express  the  nature  or  charac- 
ter of  a  single  head. 


m 


CHAPTER    LIV. 

WRITING   OUT    COPIOUS   NOTES   ON    A    SUBJECT   WHICH    IS   TO   BE    DISCUSSED. 

For  the  purpose  of  securing  an  ample  supply  of  materials 
to  be  used  in  an  approaching  debate,  the  speaker  can  rarely 
resort  to  a  more  useful  or  prolific  expedient  than  that  of 


AN  EXTENDED  SYNOPSIS.  191 

previously  writing  out  copious  notes  on  the  subject  which  is 
to  be  discussed.  This  preliminary  exercise  clears  that  rub- 
bish from  a  question  which  obscures  its  aspect  when  first 
presented  for  consideration,  familiarizes  the  mind  with  both 
its  proximate  and  remote  bearings,  and  places  the  speaker  in 
possession  of  an  adequate  fund  of  original  views  with  which 
to  fortify  his  own  side  of  a  subject. 

It  has  been  frequently  urged  as  an  invincible  objection  to 
this  practice,  that  it  grafts  upon  the  intellect  of  him  who 
imbibes  it  a  slavish  dependence  upon  written  memorials ; 
and  that  when  he  has  once  slided  into  the  habit  of  writing 
out  a  discourse  or  argument,  that  he  can  never  afterwards 
dispense  with  his  written  fortifications,  or  make  what  is 
usually  termed  an  off-hand  or  extempore  speech.  This  prop- 
osition receives  a  triumphant  refutation  from  the  most  en- 
lightened experience  which  illumines  the  path  of  modem 
research,  and  from  the  authority  of  the  most  illustrious  intel- 
lects which  beam  in  splendor  from  the  shades  of  the  past.  It 
might  be  as  appropriately  alleged  that  a  person  who  had 
learned  to  swim  by  the  use  of  corks  or  buoys  could  never 
afterwards  dispense  with  the  assistance  of  these  artificial  aids. 

It  is  somewhat  a  hackneyed  usage  to  reap  counsel  in  a 
matter  of  intellectual  exploration,  from  the  most  distinguish- 
ed actors  in  the  drama  of  antiquity.  But  the  early  wor- 
shippers at  the  classic  shrines  of  Rome  and  Greece  are  fa- 
miliar with  the  fact,  that  those  who  stood  at  the  apex  of  the 
pyramid  of  renown  in  those  celebrated  fields  of  human  ac- 
tion, as  orators  and  writers,  not  only  explicitly  ascribed  their 
eminence  and  success  to  the  early  adoption  of  the  discipline 
now  under  consideration,  but  also  earnestly  enjoined  it  on 
their  successors  in  the  race  of  glory.  These  sages,  too,  pros- 
ecuted this  discipline  not  merely  as  an  appliance  which 
would  serve  to  impart  strength  to  the  pinions  of  the  juvenile 
orator  in  his  earliest  flight,  but  they  commended  it  as  a  per- 


192  AN  EXTENDED  SYNOPSIS. 

ennial  spring  from  which  the  speaker  may  imbibe  health, 
vigor,  and  power  even  to  the  gates  of  death. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  mention  names,  but  it  is  a  matter  of 
authentic  tradition  that  many  of  those  who  reached  a  colos- 
sal elevation  as  debaters  in  this  country,  not  only  drew  the 
elements  of  their  power  from  this  resource  at  the  commence- 
ment of  their  labors  as  speakers,  but  even  to  the  close  of 
their  career  as  public  or  professional  men. 

It  is  not  true  that  a  servile  adherence  to  this  practice 
through  life,  flows  as  a  necessary  result  from  the  fact  of  writ- 
ing out  an  argument  at  length,  at  the  commencement  of  one's 
labors  as  a  speaker.  The  adoption  of  this  preliminary  cau- 
tion by  a  speaker,  when  his  faculties  are  yet  untrained  by 
the  labors  of  debate,  puts  him  fully  in  possession  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  he  will  not  enter  the  arena  of  contention  destitute 
of  arms  for  the  conflict.  But  when  he  shall  have  frequently 
repeated  this  mode  of  framing  a  speech  or  argument,  he  will 
be  enabled  to  discard  his  ink  and  paper  entirely,  if  he  chooses, 
and  he  may  rely  with  security  upon  the  acquired  creativeness 
and  promptitude  of  his  own  mind,  amidst  the  sternest  exi- 
gencies of  debate.  For  when  the  intellectual  faculties  have 
been  trained  for  a  considerable  time,  by  the  severities  of  the 
discipline  which  is  involved  in  the  act  of  writing  out  an  ar- 
gument methodically  and  closely,  the  mind  will  silently  con- 
tract the  mode  of  thinking  in  such  a  way  as  to  frame  and 
elaborate  the  whole  of  an  argument,  internally  and  invisibly, 
without  a  resort  to  written  memorials.  This  is  the  infallible 
%  and  inevitable  result  of  the  discipline  in  question,  and  the 
love  of  ease  and  repose  will  soon  reveal  to  a  student  the  par- 
ticular point  at  which  he  may  safely  secure  his  independence 
of  this  support. 

At  the  commencement  of  public  or  professional  life,  when 
the  young  mind  has  not  been  much  practised  in  the  trials  of 
controversial  skill,  it  may  require  a  liberal  expenditure  of 
labor  and  thought  to  commit  previously-written  arguments 


AN  EXTENDED  SYNOPSIS.  193 

to  memory,  and  to  render  them  completely  available  in  de- 
bate. But  the  necessity  for  this  labor  and  reflection  will 
gradually  wear  away  under  the  influence  of  practice,  until 
it  totally  disappears.  And  it  is  the  acknowledged  experience 
of  debaters  of  extended  celebrity,  who  have  devoted  them- 
selves to  this  mode  of  preparation  through  life,  that  the  act 
of  treasuring  up  in  remembrance  a  written  speech  required 
no  application  of  thought  whatever,  inasmuch  as  the  written 
production  would  imprint  itself  on  the  tablets  of  the  memo- 
ry by  the  time  it  was  fairly  written  out  on  the  surface  of  the 
paper. 

But  independent  of  the  invaluable  assistance  derived  from 
this  auxiliary  to  a  speaker,  as  a  purveyor  and  conservator  of 
sound  views  and  cogent  arguments,  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  any  particular  occasion,  it  may  be  regarded  as  an  exercise 
of  almost  incalculable  importance,  from  the  salutary  discipline 
which  it  yields  to  the  mental  faculties.  In  every  instance  in 
which  a  speaker  writes  out  methodically  and  at  length  any 
production  whatever,  which  is  the  fruit  of  close  and  severe 
thought,  he  effects  infinitely  more  in  training  his  mind  to  reg- 
ularity and  closeness  of  thought,  and  to  reasoning  in  connec- 
tion, than  he  would  accomplish  by  devoting  the  space  of 
time  to  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  most  abstruse  problem 
in  mathematical  science.  The  habits  of  thought  are  as  se- 
verely taxed  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other,  with  this  advan- 
tage superadded  to  the  practice  of  writing,  if  it  should  be 
properly  conducted,  that  it  accelerates  the  approaches  of  him 
who  labors  in  that  way  to  a  perfection  in  practical  reasoning, 
which  is  at  once  applicable  to  the  highest  duties  of  life ; 
whereas  the  other  exercise,  though  highly  beneficial  in  its  in- 
fluence, is  speculative  in  its  character,  pointing  to  invisible 
and  perhaps  remote  results. 

In  addition  to  the  beneficent  results  flowing  from  this  dis- 
cipline, which  have  been  already  suggested,  it  blends  with 
the  intellectual  treasures  of  the  student  an  accomplishment 


194  THE  MULTIFAEIOUS  EEPLY. 

of  immense  power  and  value,  which  is  collateral  to  the  pro- 
fession in  which  he  labors,  and  which  may  be  exerted  for  the 
benefit  of  his  fame  and  for  the  good  of  his  race,  on  every 
field  of  human  exertion. 


CHAPTER    LV. 

A  SPEAKER  8H0ULD  NOT  REPLY  TO  EVERY  POSITION  ASSUMED  BY  AN  OP- 
PONENT IN  DEBATE. 

There  is  a  class  of  speakers  who  consider  it  obligatory 
upon  them  to  reply  to  everything  which  has  been  advanced  by 
an  opponent  who  may  have  preceded  them  in  debate.  They 
consequently  take  up  the  positions  advanced  by  an  adversa- 
ry, without  the  slightest  shade  of  discrimination,  the  weak 
as  well  as  the  strong,  and  make  a  Quixotic  effort  to  see  what 
wild  havoc  they  can  produce  amongst  them.  This  very  com- 
prehensive  performance  of  duty  is  dictated  by  the  stimulus 
of  two  very  frivolous  motives — the  desire  to  appear  expert 
in  the  matter  of  making  a  replication,  combined  with  the 
ambition  to  exhibit  an  uncommon  fertility  of  resources  in 
the  exercise  of  speech-making  ;  for  the  work  of  replying  to 
everything  which  is  said  by  a  competitor  in  debate,  will  en- 
able a  speaker  who  has  not  one  original  idea  of  his  own  to 
advance  on  a  subject,  to  weave  out  a  speech  of  interminable 
length. 

This  mode  of  conducting  a  discussion  is  productive  of 
some  very  serious  and  visible  disadvantages.  It  gives  an 
undue  and  irksome  degree  of  extension  to  a  speech,  which 
includes  in  its  limits  so  much  irrelevant  lumber.  It  produces 
in  the  mind  of  the  assembly  which  is  addressed,  from  the 
multiplication  of  unnecessary  points  and  impertinent  issues, 


THE  MULTIFAKIOUS  KEPLY.  195 

an  obscure  and  confused  conception  of  the  grounds  of  the 
speaker's  defence,  who  adopts  this  very  injudicious  and  ex- 
ceptionable course ;  and  by  fixing  the  attention  of  the  speaker 
almost  exclusively  on  the  points  assumed  in  the  argument 
of  his  opponent,  it  leaves  the  available  positions  which  ought 
to  be  pressed  on  his  own  side  of  a  question,  unfortified  and 
completely  exposed. 

This  course  of  conduct  in  a  debater  bears  a  very  strong 
similitude  to  the  military  policy  of  a  general  who  would 
visit  fire  and  sword  upon  the  country  of  the  enemy,  whilst 
he  left  his  own  encampment  without  a  single  gun  to  defend 
it ;  or  it  may  be  compared  to  a  wanton  system  of  butchery 
by  a  commander,  who,  on  capturing  a  city  of  the  enemy, 
puts  to  the  sword  both  women  and  children,  both  the  sick 
and  the  disabled. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  positions  assumed  by  an  adver- 
sary in  debate,  may  be  permitted  to  stand  untouched  and 
unmolested  by  a  speaker  on  the  opposite  side,  who  succeeds 
him  in  the  discussion,  without  injury  to  the  cause  of  the  lat- 
ter. The  most  of  the  points  taken  in  debate  are  perfectly 
indifferent  and  harmless,  and  the  labor  expended  in  assailing 
them,  is  worse  than  a  useless  consumption  of  time. 

It  should  be  the  chief  aim  of  a  debater  to  fortify  the  prom- 
inent positions  pertaining  to  his  own  side  of  a  cause,  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  render  them  impregnable,  and  to  select  two 
or  three  of  the  most  plausible  points  assumed  by  his  oppo- 
nent, and  to  attack  them  with  brevity,  point,  and  spirit,  and 
to  close  his  case. 


196  THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  POINTS. 


CHAPTER   LVI. 

THE  ORDEE  IN  WHICH  A  SPEAKER  SHOULD  DISCUSS  THE  POINTS  OR  PROP- 
OSITIONS WHICH  MUST  NATURALLY  ARISE  IN  A  TRIAL  AT  LAW  OR  IN  A 
QUESTION   WHICH   MAY    BE  IN   THE   PROGRESS    OF   BEING    DEBATED. 

It  was  the  uniform  practice  of  Lord  Erskine,  in  arguing  a 
case  to  a  jury,  to  seize  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  strong 
point  in  the  cause,  and  to  bring  all  his  resources  of  thought 
and  of  argument  to  bear  upon  that  particular  point,  to  the 
almost  entire  exclusion  of  everything  else.  The  example  of 
a  jurist  of  such  high  and  merited  celebrity,  addresses  itself 
to  the  judgment  with  a  very  impressive  share  of  weight,  the 
more  particularly  as  it  has  been  said  that  he  rarely  lost  a 
client  who  confided  a  cause  to  his  care.  But  the  justness  of 
the  course  pursued  by  him  in  this  respect,  considered  as  a 
universal  practice,  may  be  justly  questioned ;  for  men  are  so 
organized,  both  in  their  moral  and  mental  constitutions,  as 
to  be  conducted  to  the  point  of  conviction  by  processes  and 
influences  widely  variant  in  their  nature.  On  conferring 
with  a  jury  subsequent  to  the  rendition  of  a  verdict  in  Court, 
we  will  find  that  some  of  its  members  have  been  determined 
to  the  conclusion  which  they  reached,  by  one  fact  or  point 
which  arose  in  the  trial  of  the  cause,  and  another  portion  of 
the  panel  by  other  circumstances,  perhaps  differing  widely 
from  each  other,  whilst  a  third  division  of  the  same  body 
may  profess  to  have  been  influenced  by  the  force  of  facts 
which  were  not  presented  for  the  consideration  of  the  jury, 
either  by  the  court  or  the  counsel  employed.  This  is  pre- 
eminently the  case  with  those  who  constitute  the  voters  in 
deliberative  and  popular  assemblies — the  judgment  and  feel- 
ings of  one  part  of  such  assemblies  will  be  borne  away  by  one 
consideration,  and  another  part  by  influences  and  facts  as 
widely  opposed  to  each  other  as  tlie  poles. 


THK  AEEANGEMENT  OF  POINTS.  197 

The  facts  just  submitted  present  to  the  mind  as  broadly 
as  a  pyramid  in  the  sun,  the  imperious  necessity  which  de- 
volves on  every  debater,  of  pressing  into  the  service  of  the 
proposition  before  him  every  resource  in  the  shape  either  of 
reasons  or  facts  which  may  justly  pertain  to  it.  What  is 
denominated  the  strong  point  in  a  cause  or  proposition, 
should  be  allotted  a  measure  of  space  in  a  discussion  com- 
mensurate with  its  importance — it  should  be,  in  truth,  the 
axis  around  which  the  minor  points  in  the  question  should 
be  made  to  revolve ;  but  a  speaker  should  never  omit  the 
smallest  circumstance  which  may  possibly  tell  for  the  side 
he  is  advocating ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  should  adopt  for  his 
guiding  star,  in  conducting  a  discussion,  the  celebrated  ob- 
servation of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  respecting  himself,  "  that 
he  never  felt  acquitted,  after  an  action  had  terminated,  if  he 
was  sensible  of  having  omitted  any  resource  of  defence  which 
was  clearly  within  his  reach." 

But  whether  the  prominent  point  in  a  cause  or  proposition 
should  be  presented  in  the  middle  of  an  argument,  supported 
on  each  of  its  sides  by  propositions  of  inferior  strength,  like 
the  centre  of  an  army  with  the  two  wings  auxiliary  to  its 
support,  or  whether  it  should  occupy  the  position  of  a  corps 
de  reserve^  or  rear  guard,  coming  up  at  the  last  of  the  fight, 
is  a  question  which  cannot  be  so  easily  determined.  The 
object  here  aimed  at  will  be  to  present  a  double  aspect  of 
the  case,  that  is,  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  resulting 
from  each  mode  of  discussing  a  proposition,  and  leave  the 
matter  to  the  choice  of  the  speaker  himself. 

If  a  debater  or  advocate,  in  the  early  stages  of  his  address 
to  a  jury  or  legislative  assembly,  shall  have  presented  the 
subordinate  points  in  his  proposition  with  a  superior  share 
of  ingenuity  and  power,  he  will  have  thus  made  a  lodgment 
in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  his  audience,  which  will  cause  the 
strong  point  to  be  more  highly  appreciated  when  that  is 
reached  ;  and  if  he  should  touch  the  leading  point  itself  with 


198  THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  POINTS. 

a  herculean  degree  of  power,  a  more  welcome  reception  will 
be  apt  to  be  secured  for  such  other  points  as  he  may  choose 
to  present  in  the  closing  portion  of  his  argument.  The  prop- 
osition last  affirmed,  is  founded  on  the  philosophy  of  our 
nature,  for  it  is  an  exceedingly  obvious  principle  in  the  con- 
stitution of  man,  that  when  a  pre-existing  prejudice  is  removed 
from  his  breast,  or  his  sympathies  are  strongly  enlisted,  by 
the  relation  of  circumstances  which  weigh  strongly  in  favor 
of  an  individual  or  a  doctrine,  that  his  faith  will  then  be 
placed  in  a  condition  to  yield  an  assent  more  readily  than  it 
would  have  previously  rendered  to  anything  plausible  which 
may  be  advanced  in  favor  of  the  individual  or  doctrine  in 
question. 

The  sense  of  the  foregoing  proposition,  when  reduced  to 
its  simplest  elements,  is  this ;  that  if  a  speaker  in  the  opening 
part  of  an  address,  shall  prepossess  the  feelings  of  his  audi- 
ence by  the  masterly  discussion  of  preliminary  points  of  sub- 
ordinate strength,  that  a  more  easy  access  to  its  judgment 
will  be  provided  for  the  strong  point  when  that  shall  be 
brought  up  ;  and  that  then  if  the  strong  point  itself  should 
be  urged  with  such  effective  ability  as  to  weaken  or  destroy 
prejudices  or  adverse  opinions  previously  formed,  that  an 
easy  credence  will  probably  be  yielded  to  propositions  and 
arguments  subsequently  submitted. 

A  question  is  frequently  argued  with  a  vastly  effective 
degree  of  power,  by  presenting  the  points  involved  in  it  in 
a  succession  or  order  to  be  regulated  by  the  comparative 
strength  of  these  points,  reserving  the  strongest  of  all  for  the 
conclusion  of  the  argument.  If  a  series  of  propositions  should 
be  presented  in  succession  to  an  audience,  each  flowing  from 
one  leading  question,  and  each  augmenting  in  force  and  in- 
fluence, as  it  arose  in  its  order  of  succession,  it  must  be  nat- 
urally presumed  that  the  last  of  this  series  when  reached, 
if  argued  with  signal  perspicuity  and  force,  will  descend  upon 
the  mind  with  a  decisive  degree  of  weight. 


THE  AEEANGEMENT  OF  POINTS.  199 

We  feel  somewhat  inclined  to  prefer  the  mode  of  discuss- 
ing a  question  which  has  been  last  submitted  for  the  consid- 
eration of  the  pupil.  For  the  obvious  reason,  that  if  he 
should  marshal  the  points  disclosed  in  his  argument,  in  such 
a  way  as  to  present  each  with  a  very  perceptible  increase  of 
force  as  it  arises,  he  can  hardly  fail  to  inspire  convictions  fa- 
vorable to  his  own  side  of  a  question,  by  the  time  he  shall 
have  properly  disposed  of  the  last  and  most  potential  point 
of  all. 

But  it  may  sometimes  happen  that  time  and  circumstances 
will  not  admit  of  either  of  the  preceding  comprehensive 
modes  of  debating  a  question.  A  court  or  deliberative  as- 
sembly may  be  approaching  the  close  of  its  labors,  or  a  jury 
may  be  rendered  weary  and  impatient  by  the  protracted  na- 
ture of  the  discussion.  In  either  of  these  cases  a  speaker, 
let  the  theatre  of  his  labors  be  what  it  may ;  should  seize  the 
strongest  point  in  the  subject  before  him  at  once,  and  having 
pressed  it  with  all  the  resources  within  his  reach,  and  in  the 
most  animated  style,  should  drop  the  subject. 

To  demonstrate  clearly  to  the  mind  of  the  speaker  the 
magical  influence  which  is  exerted  at  times  by  presenting 
points  or  propositions  in  the  order  of  their  strength,  we  will 
appeal  to  a  living  exemplification  of  the  matter.  It  frequently 
happens  in  the  courts  of  criminal  jurisdiction,  that  two  or 
more  persons  are  charged  with  a  murder  in  one  indictment, 
and  that  they  are  tried  without  a  severance  in  the  defence. 
Now  if  the  counsel  for  the  prosecution,  in  presenting  his  ar- 
gument to  the  jury,  shall  argue  the  evidence  applicable  to 
the  case  of  that  prisoner  who  ought  evidently  to  be  acquitted 
(from  a  deficiency  of  proof),  with  such  marked  ability  as  to 
inspire  the  mind  of  the  jury  with  even  a  slight  suspicion  of 
his  guilt,  when  he  reaches  the  evidence  applicable  to  the  most 
guilty  culprit,  the  mind  of  the  jury  will  be  in  the  most  aus 
picious  of  all  conditions  to  pronounce  his  conviction  from 
the  effect  of  comparison. 


200     PEEPARATORY  DISCIPLINE  FOR  COMPOSITION. 

So  it  is  in  the  defence  of  a  number  of  prisoners.  If  the 
counsel  in  the  defence  shall  in  the  first  part  of  his  argument 
take  up  the  evidence  applicable  to  the  case  of  the  guiltiest 
client,  and  succeed  in  raising  in  the  minds  of  the  jury  even 
a  bare  doubt  of  his  guilt,  the  proofs  adduced  against  those 
on  trial  whose  guilt  has  been  made  least  apparent,  may  be 
blown  away  in  many  instances  by  the  vacant  breath  of 
declamation. 


CHAPTER    LVII. 

THE   PREPARATORY   PROCESS   TO   BE   ADOPTED   WHEN     A    STUDENT    IS   ABOUT 
TO   PREPARE   A   "WRITTEN    PRODUCTION   OF   ANY   DESCRIPTION. 

There  are  many  judicious  thinkers  who .  regard  it  as  a  be- 
neficent precaution  in  every  writer  who  is  about  to  present 
his  views  to  the  world  in  any  document  or  production,  wheth- 
er of  transient  or  enduring  importance,  to  adopt  some  pro- 
cess by  which  to  provoke  the  powers  of  thought  into  spirited 
and  productive  action.  For  fervency  of  feeling  and  fertility 
of  invention,  though  they  may  exist  in  a  latent  form  in  the 
intellectual  constitution  of  their  possessor,  will  not  uniformly 
yield  a  spontaneous  tribute  to  his  demands.  To  secure  a 
copious  harvest  from  these  precious  properties,  they  must  be 
frequently  stimulated  by  appliances  congenial  to  the  nature 
of  the  mind. 

There  are  many,  who,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the 
possession  of  their  best  thoughts  on  any  subject  on  which 
they  are  to  write,  will  lock  themselves  up  in  a  chamber  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  company,  and  will  reflect  intensely  upon 
the  matter  under  consideration,  until  they  have  painted  on 
the  tablets  of  the  mind  a  complete  outline  or  diagram  of  it, 
in  all  its  bearings  and  relations.  They  then  emerge  from 
their  state  of  seclusion,  and  write  out  their  views  at  some 


PEEPAEATORY  DISCIPLINE  FOR  COMPOSITION.      201 

subsequent  period.  There  are  others  who  retire  to  the 
shades  of  some  sequestered  spot,  where  they  may  revolve 
a  subject  in  their  minds,  free  from  every  species  of  interrup- 
tion. There  is  another  class  of  thinkers  who  take  a  seat  at 
a  table  with  paper  and  ink  before  them,  and  who  note  down 
as  they  arise  in  their  minds,  the  brightest  and  most  valuable 
thoughts  which  occur  to  them  on  a  subject,  and  who,  after 
having  perfected  a  skeleton  of  the  subject  in  this  mode,  will 
then  commence  the  secondary  labor  of  embodying  their 
views  in  suitable  language. 

It  is  said  to  have  been  the  usual  practice  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  who  was  one  of  the  most  original  and  prolific 
thinkers  who  has  enlightened  the  world  in  modern  times, 
when  he  had  an  important  subject  under  deliberation,  to 
concentrate  his  thoughts  upon  it  in  the  silence  of  night,  then 
to  retire  to  rest,  and  immediately  on  awaking  from  sleep,  to 
inscribe  his  views  on  paper.  Apart  from  the  encouragement 
which  is  presented  for  the  adoption  of  this  mode  of  proce- 
dure in  an  example  so  attractive  and  impressive  as  that  of 
Hamilton,  there  is  a  sort  of  invisible  charm  or  magical  in- 
fluence associated  with  nocturnal  meditation  on  a  subject, 
which  powerfully  commends  it  to  the  young  mind.  This 
species  of  mental  labor  may  be  assimilated  to  the  act  of 
sowing  seeds  which  are  to  vegetate  during  the  indulgence  of 
sleep,  and  to  exhibit  with  the  light  of  the  morning  sun,  the 
plant  fully  developed  both  in  its  stem  and  leaves.  Those 
who  have  had  difficult  exercises  assigned  them  to  be  com- 
mitted to  memory  during  the  period  of  juvenile  instruction, 
will  remember  with  delight  how  vividly  some  portion  of  an 
author  was  painted  on  the  page  of  memory  in  the  morning, 
which  they  had  carefully  studied  on  the  preceding  night. 
The  success  connected  with  this  specific  mode  of  reflection 
may  be  traced  to  the  principle  or  fact  that  the  last  thoughts 
which  hang  on  the  mind,  previous  to  a  temporary  suspen- 
sion of  the  functions  of  nature,  will  be  the  first  to  visit  it 

9* 


202      PEEPAKATORY  DISCIPLINE  FOR  COMPOSITION. 

when  that  suspension  shall  have  been  removed.  The  repose 
of  sleep  may  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  an  Isthmus  interve- 
ning between  two  seasons  of  labor,  and  the  images  or  ob- 
jects which  were  most  carefully  observed  and  cultivated  on 
the  commencing  side  of  that  Isthmus,  will  certainly  be  the 
first  to  accost  the  memory  at  its  terminating  boundary. 

With  the  view  of  rousing  the  mind  to  a  spirit  of  invention 
and  a  free  flow  of  diction  in  the  investigation  of  any  partic- 
ular subject,  no  method  is  preferable  to  the  act  of  reading, 
preparatory  to  commencing  a  production  of  any  kind,  an  au- 
thor, the  pages  of  which  breath  throughout  a  glowing  spirit 
of  invention.  If  any  one  had  in  contemplation  the  act  of 
writing  an  essay  or  address  on  any  branch  of  religious  duty, 
it  would  be  a  difficult  matter  for  him  to  give  his  days  and 
nights  to  the  gorgeous  pages  of  Chalmers,  without  catching 
in  some  small  degree  the  fervid  spirit  of  inspiration  by  which 
they  are  pervaded.  If  he  should  be  engaged  in  writing  an 
essay  on  any  topic  of  a  literary  nature,  it  would  be  difficult 
for  a  writer  to  refrain  from  contracting  some  portion  of  the 
classic  elegance  which  beams  in  every  line  of  Chamiing,  and 
of  Washington  Irving,  if  he  should  previously  read  their  in- 
imitable works.  And  if  any  production  of  a  political  ten- 
dency should  be  contemplated,  it  would  be  almost  imprac- 
ticable for  the  writer  to  yield  a  liberal  share  of  attention  to 
the  numbers  of  the  Federalist,  or  to  Say,  or  to  Montesquieu, 
without  imparting  some  hues  of  the  coloring  of  those  works 
to  his  own  composition. 

But  the  author  from  which  a  student  may  seek  the  spirit 
of  invention,  or  inspiration,  in  this  way,  should  possess  a  di- 
rect relation,  in  regard  to  the  subjects  which  it  treats,  to  the 
topic  on  which  he  is  about  to  write.  For  the  benefit  which 
he  must  reap  from  the  perusal  of  any  particular  work,  in 
prosecuting  the  labors  of  an  intellectual  production,  will  be 
proportioned  to  the  closeness  of  the  relation  which  exists  be- 
tween that  work  and  the  subject  which  he  may  be  investigating. 


PKEPAEATORY  DISCIPLINE  FOE  .  COMPOSITION.       203 

And  if  the  student  should  not  be  able  to  command  an  au- 
thor identical  in  principles  and  in  theory  with  the  views  which 
he  designs  presenting  in  his  own  production,  let  him  procure 
some  book  which  bears  the  nearest  imaginable  affinities  with 
the  subject  which  he  intends  to  elucidate.  For  instance,  he 
may  be  on  the  point  of  writing  a  speech  or  essay  on  some 
political  topic,  concerning  which  not  a  single  word  may  be 
uttered  in  the  numbers  of  the  Federalist.  But  inasmuch  as 
political  topics  are  treated  at  large  in  those  papers,  and  that 
with  a  measure  of  unrivalled  strength  and  spirit,  he  will  by 
the  careful  study  of  these  papers  be  enabled  to  augment  his 
own  intellectual  power  in  discussing  any  question  which  may 
fall  legitimately  within  the  department  of  politics. 

After  the  student  shall  have  yielded  his  reflections  to  an 
appropriate  author,  in  the  mode  heretofore  pointed  out,  the 
next  question  to  be  disposed  of,  is  the  manner  in  which  he 
shall  render  these  preliminary  devotions  available  in  the 
matter  of  preparing  a  production  of  any  kind.  On  this 
branch  of  the  subject,  we  have  only  to  suggest  to  him,  that 
whenever  he  finds  his  mind  teeming  with  the  subject  which 
he  is  engaged  in  studying,  let  him  take  his  seat  and  com- 
mence the  labor  of  writing  out  his  views  on  that  subject, 
until  he  shall  have  exhausted  the  supply  of  materials  he  has 
in  possession  at  the  time.  For  when  the  fervor  of  invention 
shall  have  once  deserted  him,  it  may  not  return  to  him  again 
iu  the  exuberance  of  its  vein. 


204         THE  BEIGHT^R  PASSAGES  IN  AUTHORS. 


CHAPTER    LVIII. 

THE  PRACTICE   OF   NOTING   PASSAGES   OF  PECULIAR   EXCELLENCE  WHICH 
OCCUE    IN  VARIOUS   AUTHORS. 

There  are  very  few  intellectual  habits  which  a  worshipper 
at  the  shrine  of  eloquence  may  contract,  which  will  yield  a 
larger  return  of  improvement  to  his  style  both  in  writing 
and  in  speaking,  than  the  constant  practice  of  observing,  with 
the  most  fixed  and  deliberate  attention,  those  passages  in  the 
authors  which  he  reads  which  are  rendered  attractive  either 
by  their  peculiar  strength,  brilliancy,  wit,  perspicuity,  smooth- 
ness, elegance,  or  for  the  luminous  and  practical  exposition 
they  afford  of  the  principles  and  character  of  man. 

This  was  a  practice  to  which  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan 
perseveringly  and  tenaciously  adhered  during  a  large  portion 
of  his  eventful  life,  as  was  abundantly  attested  by  an  exam- 
ination of  the  works  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of  perusing. 
It  has  been  affirmed,  by  those  who  possessed  the  fairest  op- 
portunities of  knowing  his  intellectual  habits,  that  every  pas- 
sage in  the  authors  which  he  read  which  was  stamped  by  any 
peculiar  excellence,  was  marked  where  it  occurred  in  the  page 
of  the  book.  And  though  he  was  unquestionably  endowed 
by  nature  in  her  beneficence  with  a  fine  intellect  and  a  pro- 
lific imagination ;  yet  he  has  bequeathed  to  his  country  shin- 
ing and  imperishable  memorials  to  demonstrate  the  magical 
influence  which  was  exerted  over  his  mental  productions  by 
this  practice ;  in  the  almost  matchless  gorgeousness  of  his 
eloquence,  in  his  unfailing  promptness  in  apposite  and  beau- 
tiful quotations,  and  in  the  electric  flashes  of  wit  which  so 
frequently  communicated  an  unspeakable  charm  both  to  the 
social  circles  and  to  the  legislative  counsels  of  Britain. 

To  the  fertilizing  influence  of  this  practice,  too,  many  of 


THE  BRIGHTER  PASSAGES  IN  AUTHORS.    205 

those  whose  names  cluster  around  the  apex  of  the  pyramid  of 
American  renown,  were  indebted  in  a  high  degree  for  the  splen- 
dor of  their  diction  and  the  pungency  of  their  wit.  Amongst 
these  may  be  appropriately  numbered,  William  Pinkney, 
William-  Wirt,  John  Randolph,  and  Daniel  Webster,  the  fame 
of  whom  is  co-extensive  with  the  surface  of  the  globe.  When 
living,  their  conversation,  from  abounding  in  classic  embel- 
lishments of  the  most  exquisite  beauty  and  finish,  gave  con- 
clusive evidence  that  they  had  appealed  to  the  practice  now 
under  considerati#n,  in  the  work  of  magnifying  their  intellec- 
tual resources ;  and  they  left  behind  them,  on  their  departure 
from  the  world,  indelible  traces  of  its  effect  in  the  unsur- 
passed brilliancy  of  their  political  and  forensic  efforts. 

A  reference  has  been  made  to  the  preceding  illustrious 
names  for  the  purpose  of  affording  to  the  pupil  some  shin- 
ing proofs  of  the  immense  practical  benefit  which  may  be 
derived  fi-om  a  persevering  use  of  the  particular  appliance 
which  has  been  suggested  in  this  chapter.  But  its  use  and 
application  is  enjoined  and  enforced  by  an  intelligent  obser- 
vation of  the  nature  and  structure  of  the  intellect  of  man. 
That  human  being  must  be  afflicted  with  a  hopeless  and  in- 
curable imperviousness  of  mind,  who  can  yield  his  days  and 
his  nights  to  any  book  conspicuous  for  the  superlative  ex- 
cellence of  its  language,  without  imbibing  some  traces  of  the 
spirit  and  the  language  of  the  author. 

Works  which  glitter  with  the  gems  of  human  thought  in 
every  page  and  line,  like  those  of  Gibbon,  Burke,  Hume, 
Chalmers,  Channing,  and  Macaulay,  cannot  be  perused  by 
one  endowed  with  a  susceptible  mind,  without  the  style  of 
the  reader  contracting  in  some  degree  the  glow  and  the  tinge 
of  classic  elegance  which  breathes  in  every  passage  of  these 
caskets  of  classic  treasure.  So  powerful  and  palpable  is  the 
influence  wielded  by  the  perusal  of  such  authors  over  the 
style  and  language  of  some  readers  endowed  with  an  exuber- 
ant flow  of  fancy,  that  they  are  compelled  to  abstain  from 


206  THE  BRIGHTER  PASSAGES  IN  AUTHORS. 

the  study  of  such  works  entirely,  and  to  tie  themselves 
down  to  writers  of  a  sterner  and  less  gorgeous  character, 
otherwise  their  productions  would  teem  with  the  flowers  of 
fancy  without  being  commended  to  a  sufficient  extent  by  any 
of  the  solid  and  available  fruits  of  mental  culture. 

If,  then,  the  bare  perusal  of  authors  highly  imaginative 
in  their  character,  is  calculated  to  enrich  the  human  fancy, 
and  prompt  it  too  frequently  to  ethereal  flights,  how  vast- 
ly greater  in  point  of  specific  influence  and  value,  must 
be  the  daily  habit  of  plucking  the  purest  and  most  precious 
gems  from  such  authors  as  Bacon,  Milton,  Dryden  and 
Shakspeare,  and  depositing  them  for  safe  keeping  in  the 
mental  treasury  of  the  student. 

This  judicious  and  discriminating  choice  of  the  brightest 
portions  of  an  author,  is  widely  variant  too  in  its  results 
from  that  promiscuous  absorption  of  all  the  gorgeous  proper- 
ties of  a  writer  which  has  been  referred  to  in  the  preceding 
lines.  It  is  similar  to  the  process  by  which  an  alchemist 
separates  the  particles  of  pure  ore  from  the  mass  of  worth- 
less tinsel  with  which  it  is  incorporated,  or  like  taking  the 
nutritious  pulp  of  any  species  of  fruit  whilst  the  exterior 
coating  or  husk  is  discarded. 

But  the  precious  and  crowning  benefit  which  flows  from  the 
preceding  practice,  consists  m  the  fact  of  storing  the  memory 
with  a  rich  supply  of  beautiful  expressions,  which  serve  as 
models  from  which  the  mind  of  the  pupil  may  spontaneously 
create  and  cast  off*  rare  and  captivating  images  of  its  own. 
It  is  not  exclusively  for  the  purpose  of  being  used  in  the 
character  of  quotations  in  writing  and  speaking,  that  the  col- 
lation of  sentences  of  rare  excellence  from  various  authors  is 
advised.  They  supply  a  very  precious  treasure  of  orna- 
mental decorations  regarded  as  quotations.  But  that  is  not 
their  principal  value.  When  these  expressions  are  thrown 
into  the  cabinet  of  an  inventive  mind,  they  become  incor- 
porated with  its  native  and  acquired  resources,  in  such  a 


THE  BRIGHTER  PASSAGES   IN  AUTHORS.         207 

manner  as  to  form  a  part  of  its  essence.  When  the  person 
who  treasures  them  up  may  be  engaged  in  speaking  or  writ- 
ing at  a  period  long  subsequent  to  that  at  which  he  collated 
the  expressions,  they  will  fall  from  his  lips  or  his  pen  in  a  cos- 
tume so  perfectly  new,  that  he  will  not  know  that  the  intellec- 
tual property  of  another  is  entering  as  an  integral  portion  into 
the  composition  of  his  own  intellectual  creations.  Without 
having  aimed  at  any  such  blending  of  separate  intellectual 
emanations,  he  will  find  on  a  cool  survey  of  some  of  his 
most  beautiful  expressions,  both  in  speaking  and  in  writing, 
after  they  have  been  given  to  the  world,  that  he  has  merely 
united  some  new  beauty  with  a  gem  of  thought  which  had 
been  long  previously  thrown  into  circulation  by  some  other 
writer  or  speaker. 

In  instances  of  the  preceding  description,  the  speaker  or 
orator  is  only  entitled  to  a  right  of  property  in  the  images 
of  rare  beauty  which  he  exhibits  in  a  discourse,  on  the  same 
principle  precisely  with  that  on  which  a  person  receives  a 
patent  from  the  government  for  having  added  a  fresh  im- 
provement to  a  machine  which  had  long  previously  been  in 
operation.  But  it  discloses  a  high  quality  of  mental  com- 
bination in  a  speaker  whose  mind  may  be  competent  to 
throw  out  compound  gems  of  thought  in  the  structure,  of 
which  fragmentary  portions  of  foreign  gems  are  distinctly 
visible.  One  of  the  principal  charms  of  this  particular  men- 
tal process,  consists  in  the  fact  of  the  person  who  thus  draws 
on  the  resources  of  others  not  being  conscious  of  the  fact 
when  he  is  engaged  in  it.  And  probably  he  may  never  be 
apprized  of  his  obligations  to  another  intellect,  for  some  of 
the  most  beautiful  mental  creations  which  sparkle  in  the  cas- 
ket of  his  spoken  and  written  productions,  until  he  shall  have 
critically  analyzed  them  and  traced  them  to  their  source. 
It  is  highly  probable,  too,  that  the  world  may  never  recog- 
nize in  this  case  a  re-enactment  of  that  legal  sort  of  admix- 
ture which  is  sometimes  referred  to  in  the  law  books,  where 


208    THE  BEIGHTER  PASSAGES  IN  AUTHORS. 

the  goods  of  one  individual  are  so  intermingled  with  those  of 
another,  that  they  cannot  be  apportioned  to  their  respective 
owners.  It  is  fortunate,  too,  for  the  compounder  of  intel- 
lectual commodities,  that  he  does  not,  like  a  jumbler  in 
law,  incur  an  entire  forfeiture  of  his  portion  of  the  goods,  in 
consequence  of  their  being  mixed  with  those  of  another. 

Whilst  alluding  to  the  intellectual  creations,  in  which  the 
elegant  expressions  of  some  other  person  may  be  involun- 
tarily and  unconsciously  blended  with  the  frame-work  of  a 
speech,  when  it  is  in  the  progress  of  being  delivered  by  a 
speaker,  it  may  be  appropriately  suggested  that  some  of  the 
most  celebrated  oratorical  productions  which  are  now  extant  in 
the  world,  are  visibly  marked  with  the  traces  of  that  mingled 
or  compound  beauty,  concerning  which  we  are  now  discours 
ing.  And  it  may  so  happen  that  a  person  will  subject  some 
of  these  productions  to  repeated  perusals,  and  arise  from  each 
successive  perusal  with  a  fresh  glow  of  admiration  for  some 
highly  sentimental  and  glittering  figures  which  they  contain, 
without  the  faintest  suspicion  that  these  ornamental  beauties 
are  invested  with  the  smallest  share  of  borrowed  lustre. 
And  perhaps,  at  last,  when  this  splendid  union  of  separate 
beauties  is  detected  by  the  eye  of  a  reader,  he  will  be  in- 
debted for  the  discovery  to  a  perusal  of  the  works  of  Shak- 
speare,  of  Milton,  of  Dry  den,  or  those  of  some  other  re- 
nowned genius,  in  which  some  shining  particles  of  the  ex- 
pression he  originally  admired  in  a  speech  of  recent  times, 
will  broadly  assert  their  presence. 

But  the  practice  of  collating  rich  and  beautiful  expressions 
from  the  authors  he  reads,  may  be  tributary  to  the  improve- 
ment of  a  speaker,  not  only  in  the  fact  of  supplying  him  with 
choice  materials  which  may  be  advantageously  blended  with 
his  own  creations.  The  rare  expressions  which  he  thus  col- 
lects, will  serve  as  models  or  types  from  which  he  may  form, 
in  rapid  succession  and  in  rich  profusion,  splendid  creations 
of  his  own.     If  a  painter  who  is  animated  with  a  passionate 


SERENITY  OF  TEMPER.         ^  209 

devotion  to  floral  beauties,  should  pass  through  a  vale  which 
was  robed  in  beautiful  flowers,  he  might  contract  images  of 
beauty  from  the  flowers  which  then  charmed  him,  which 
would  arise  in  new  forms  of  beauty  on  the  surface  of  the  can- 
vas adorned  by  his  pencil  at  the  termination  of  years  after- 
wards. An  artist  catches  some  of  his  choicest  conceptions  of 
that  beauty  which  graces  the  productions  of  his  chisel,  from 
observations  of  statuary  which  float  amongst  the  dreamy 
shadows  which  have  long  passed  away. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  speaker  or  writer  who  may  be  blessed 
in  possessing  a  cabinet  which  is  well  supplied  with  the 
brighter  mental  creations  which  have  been  charming  the 
,world  through  a  series  of  years.  Each  of  these  glittering 
passages  will  probably  serve  as  a  model  or  image,  in  the 
mind  of  the  person  who  treasures  them  up,  to  suggest  the 
formation  of  other  charming  expressions,  which  may  add  to 
the  elevation  of  his  own  fame,  and  enhance  the  resources  of 
his  country's  entertainment. 


CHAPTER    LIX, 


A   SPEAKER   SHOULD   ALWAYS     MAINTAIN   THE    MOST   PERFECT    GOOD    HUMOE 
IN  ADDRESSING   AN   AUDIENCE   OF   ANY   DESCRIPTION. 

When  a  person  has  no  special  or  desirable  object  before 
him  which  is  to  be  accomplished  in  a  short  time,  if  it  should 
be  his  inclination  to  fret  and  get  angry,  he  may  indulge  in 
that  vein  according  to  the  measure  of  his  largest  desires ;  for 
he  will  have  the  whole  term  of  his  existence  before  him  as  a 
season  in  which  to  cool,  and  he  will  not  incur  any  loss  or 
inconvenience  which  will  flow  as  a  necessary  consequence 
from  the  particular  flush  of  irritation. 

But  if  an  applicant  should  be  seeking  an  ofl[ice  from  any 


210  SERENITY  OF  TEMPER. 

appointing  power,  or  if  he  should  be  courting  a  bright  and 
benignant  glance  from  the  eye  of  beauty,  or  if  he  should 
be  soliciting  the  interest  of  a  voter  in  any  pending  election, 
he  should  refrain  from,  the  slightest  exhibition  of  ill-temper, 
as  cautiously  as  he  would  from  drinking  a  beverage  which 
he  knew  to  be  strongly  impregnated  with  arsenic.  For  the 
persons  at  whose  hands  a  favor  is  sought,  from  the  very 
nature  of  man,  will  scrutinize  the  person  who  seeks  the  favor 
with  a  more  jealous  and  critical  eye  than  they  would  if  he 
had  no  object  to  accomplish  with  them.  They  become  much 
more  accessible  to  distorted  views  of  slight  passages  in  the 
demeanor  and  person  of  the  applicant,  which  may  not  be 
positively  agreeable,  than  they  ever  were  before;  and  it 
becomes  one  in  this  situation,  if  he  has  not  determined  to 
a<jquire  the  coveted  object,  according  to  the  most  approved 
Bonapartean  method,  by  force  of  arms,  or  to  adopt  the  expe- 
dient which  is  sometimes  resorted  to  by  despairing  lovers 
and  lasses,  that  of  proud  disdain ;  to  carry  about  him,  in  their 
fullest  measure  of  perfection,  all  the  fascinations  of  manner, 
appearance,  and  disposition  which  he  may  be  able  to  muster. 
It  is  thus  with  one  who  may  be  engaged  in  addressing  a 
jury,  or  any  assembly  upon  whose  suffrages  an  important 
decision  may  be  suspended.  Because  persons  in  this  situa- 
tion, from  the  very  fact  of  holding  a  specific  measure  of 
power,  in  which  the  person  addressing  them  is  interested, 
are  temporarily  inflated  with  the  pride  of  power,  or  infected 
with  what  may  be  termed  a  punctilious  or  exacting  spirit. 
They  have  at  the  time  the  appetite  of  a  famished  wolf  for  all 
the  fascinations  which  the  speaker  can  pour  out  before  them, 
merely  because  they  are  the  dispensers  and  he  the  applicant 
for  a  favor.  Or  it  may  be  that  they  arc  peculiarly  sensitive 
to  any  apparent  withholding  of  incense  and  fascination  on  the 
part  of  the  speaker,  because  it  is  the  custom  of  the  country 
to  play  the  courtier  on  such  occasions,  and  they  may  con- 
ceive that  they  are  grossly  slighted  when  there  is  any  lurking 


SERENITY  OF  TEMPER.  211 

suspicion  afloat  that  they  are  not  honored  with  the  same 
gales  of  perfume  which  have  feasted  the  senses  of  all  other 
persons  and  voters. 

That  sagacious  observer,  as  well  as  accomplished  actor, 
Julius  Caesar,  made  it  one  of  the  inflexible  rules  of  his  per- 
sonal code  never  to  be  angry,  for  he  knew  how  like  a  malig- 
nant star  the  baleful  spirit  of  anger  shone  upon  all  the  pre- 
cious enterprises  of  life.  And  it  has  been  remarked  by  Lord 
Chesterfield,  that  the  illustrious  Duke  of  Marlborough  had 
been  more  indebted  for  his  unrivalled  success  in  life  to  the 
commanding  elegance  of  his  person  and  the  winning  grace  of 
his  manners,  than  to  any  other  qualities  he  possessed.  It 
might,  perhaps,  seem  to  be  a  very  broad  and  extravagant 
assumption,  to  affirm  that  these  renowned  captains,  whose 
mere  attempts  were  the  precursors  of  accomplishment,  had 
been  much  reinforced  by  the  insinuating  graces  of  mere  good 
humor,  in  capturing  a  besieged  city  or  in  vanquishing  an 
opposing  army.  But  the  universal  cultivation  and  preserva- 
tion of  the  spirit  of  suavity  and  courtesy,  may  have  in  the 
first  instance  raised  them  to  that  eminence  of  promotion 
which  invested  them  with  the  opportunity  of  taking  cities 
and  of  defeating  armies.  But  there  are  two  propositions 
which,  if  the  pen  of  history  has  been  faithful  to  its  sacred 
trust,  are  incontrovertibly  true,  and  these  are,  that  each  of 
these  celebrated  men  were  unsurpassed  in  courtesy  and  good 
temper,  and  that  they  also  enjoyed  a  measure  of  success  in 
all  their  enterprises  which  has  been  seldom  reached  by  the 
strength  of  any  human  arm. 

In  relation  to  the  preservation  of  good  humor  by  speakers, 
when  engaged  in  delivering  an  argument  or  address,  it  will 
occur  to  every  observer  of  the  active  scenes  of  life,  with 
what  a  gracious  welcome  an  advocate  or  politician,  who  may 
be  indifferent  in  other  respects,  but  who  presents  himself  be- 
fore the  body  he  may  be  addressing  with  perfect  good  humor, 
is  universally  received.     A  jury  or  popular  assembly  will 


212  AN  EAKLY  FAILUEE  IN  SPEAKING. 

not  only  yield  to  a  speaker  of  this  description  a  very  evident 
share  of  their  attention,  but  they  also  indicate  by  their  good- 
natured  smiles  that  they  are  willing  to  meet  him  more  than 
half  way  to  gratify  his  wishes.  And  if  they  should  not  be 
borne  away  by  the  charge  of  a  judge,  or  by  some  circum- 
stance which  exerts  an  imperative  control  over  their  judg- 
ments, the  jury  will  yield  their  verdict,  and  the  popular  as- 
sembly will  render  their  votes  to  the  good-humored  speaker. 
It  is  observable,  too,  how  quickly  an  assembly  of  any  de- 
scription contracts  the  dark  hues  which  are  painted  on  the 
surface  of  the  manners  and  character  of  a  speaker,  who  ex- 
hibits either  anger  or  a  peevish  humor  when  he  rises  to 
speak.  They  feel  almost  as  adverse  to  his  interests  and 
wishes  as  if  he  was  angry  with  them,  and  instead  of  indulg- 
ing any  wish  to  oblige  him,  they  feel  a  disposition  to  punish 
him  for  his  implied  aggression  on  good  manners  and  good 
feelings,  by  sternly  withholding  the  benefit  he  seeks.  Advo- 
cates and  politicians  of  this  description  may  succeed,  but 
their  success  will  prove  the  fruit  of  accident,  perseverance, 
or  of  some  peculiar  impediment  in  the  opposing  side ;  it 
will  not  certainly  be  the  legitimate  or  necessary  result  of 
their  displays  of  bad  temper,  for  these  are  calculated  to  dark- 
en the  prospects  of  success  in  all  the  enterprises  of  life, 
which  possess  any  claims  to  intrinsic  value. 


CHAPTER   LX. 

A  SrEAKEE   SHOULD   NEVER   BE   DISCOURAGED   BY   AN   EARLY   FAILURE  IN 
AN    ORATORICAL    ATTEMPT. 

It  has  been  the  frequent  experience  of  beginners  in  oratory 
to  bo  embarrassed  at  the  very  threshold  of  their  public  ca- 
reer, by  a  signal  failure  in  their  earliest  attempts  to  mingle 


AN  EARLY  FAILURE  IN  SPEAKING.  213 

in  debate.  But  so  far  from  being  depressed  or  paralyzed  by 
an  incident  apparently  so  discouraging  in  its  character,  the 
young  heart  should  extract  an  exhilarating  influence  from 
that  soothing  declaration  of  an  ancient  sage,  "  that  it  is  more 
glorious  to  rise  with  grace,  than  not  to  have  fallen  at  all." 
When  such  an  occurrence  shall  not,  like  a  chilling  frost,  com- 
municate a  freezing  influence  to  the  fervid  blood  which  flows 
through  the  veins  of  young  ambition,  it  will  serve  as  a  pas- 
sage of  shade  at  the  entrance  of  the  great  expanse  of  life,  to 
enhance,  by  the  eflect  of  contrast,  the  splendor  of  its  subse- 
quent brightness,  or  as  a  superficial  execresence  or  dimple 
on  the  cheek  of  some  lovely  fair  one,  serves  to  improve  the 
bloom  of  her  surrounding  beauty. 

If  it  was  the  necessary  or  even  the  usual  result  of  a  fail- 
ure in  early  attempts,  to  quench  the  glow  of  ambition  in  the 
bosom  of  the  young  candidate  for  renown,  some  of  the  most 
radiant  names  which  shine  on  the  catalogue  of  the  world's 
benefactors  would  have  been  doomed  to  everlasting  obscur- 
ity. For  the  forensic  and  professional  records  of  every  en- 
lightened nation  on  earth  abound  in  memorials  to  show  how 
often  the  brightest  ornaments  of  our  race,  in  arms,  in  art, 
and  in  civil  polity,  stumbled  in  passing  through  the  porch  of 
entry  to  the  temple  of  fame.  It  is  in  many  instances  the  di- 
rect tendency  of  beneficent  intellectual  endowments  to  inspire 
such  an  eager  and  intense  desire  for  absolute  perfection  in 
execution,  as  to  prevent  and  suppress  any  performance  at  all ; 
just  as  an  exquisite  performer  in  music  may  have  all  his  ca- 
pabilities palsied,  in  the  very  outset  of  a  performance,  by  a 
failure  to  produce  some  note  or  tone,  in  a  favorite  piece  of 
music,  in  that  perfection  of  elegance  and  sweetness  which  he 
had  long  anticipated  with  delight. 

It  would  present  an  anomalous  feature  in  the  intellectual 
economy  of  our  race,  if  the  divine  property  of  genius  should 
prove  inadequate  to  the  task  of  improving  upon  its  early 
miscarriage,  when  persevering  stupidity  has  rarely  ever  failed 


214         THE  ELIGIBLE  POSITION  LN"  A  DEBATE. 

to  cover  the  shame  of  its  first  ignoble  efforts  by  ultimate 
success.  There  is  a  sterling  share  of  efficacy  associated  with 
an  unshrinking  spirit  of  hardihood  and  a  brazen  front,  which 
enables  mediocrity  to  pass  unscathed  over  the  most  mortify- 
ing failures  in  early  efforts  at  oratory.  And  it  is  certain, 
that  should  a  speaker  of  moderate  endowments,  instead  of 
quailing  under  the  disheartening  influence  of  an  early  failure, 
keep  straightforward  in  his  course,  without  exhibiting  the 
slightest  apparent  sensibility  to  the  ridicule  and  sneers  which 
may  be  supposed  to  flow  as  a  legitimate  consequence  from 
an  explosive  attempt  at  an  oratorical  display  in  the  presence 
of  the  world,  that  the  public  itself  will  become  tired  of  a 
contest  with  a  determined  spirit,  and  will  ground  its  arms 
of  opposition  to  his  success.  With  how  much  greater  cer- 
tainty will  liberal  attainments  and  well-directed  genius  or 
talent  be  enabled  to  overcome  an  early  failure  in  speaking  1 


CHAPTER    LXI. 

"WHICH   PLACE   OB   POSITION   IN   ARRANGING     THE     ORDER    OF    A    DISCUSSION 
A    DEBATER   SHOULD    PREFER. 

To  deliver  the  concluding  speech  in  a  discussion,  is  the 
prize  ^f  ambition  to  which  every  advocate  aspires.  And 
where  this  desire  is  prompted  by  any  other  considerations 
than  those  of  utility  to  a  particular  principle  or  cause,  it 
cannot  be  regarded  as  the  fruit  of  an  elevated  or  sound  am- 
bition. It  is  right  that  a  speaker  should  covet  the  concluding 
speech  in  a  debate,  when,  from  his  superior  adroitness  in 
making  a  reply,  and  from  his  larger  experience  in  covering 
the  weak  points  which  may  be  presented  on  his  side  of  a 
question,  he  will  be  enabled  to  render  the  most  effective  ser- 
vice for  the  side  he  advocates,  in  that  particular  position. 


THE  ELIGIBLE  POSITION  IN  A  DEBATE.  215 

But  a  debater  should  never  contend  for  the  concluding 
speech  for  the  gratification  of  feelings  of  personal  vanity, 
such  as  desiring  to  appear  to  the  bystanders  as  the  speaker 
in  chief  of  the  occasion,  unless  it  be  his  clear  right  from  pri- 
ority of  appointment,  or  from  some  special  authority  his 
client  may  have  vested  in  him  on  that  particular  subject. 
But  even  in  the  case  of  being  entitled  to  the  concluding  place 
in  a  discussion,  from  the  technical  right  of  the  earliest  ap- 
pointment, a  counsellor  or  speaker,  if  guided  by  the  dictates 
of  even  a  moderate  share  of  wisdom,  will  surrender  the 
post  to  abler  and  more  experienced  counsel.  For  a  juvenile 
or  inefficient  debater,  particularly  at  the  bar,  will  cover  him- 
self with  a  merited  share  of  derision,  by  affecting  to  lead 
abler  and  wiser  men. 

The  only  personal  advantages  which  an  advocate  derives 
from  the  concluding  speech  at  the  bar,  may  be  summed  up 
in  very  few  words.  If  he  enjoys  but  an  imperfect  acquaint- 
ance with  the  merits  of  a  cause  from  the  fact  of  having  been 
but  recently  employed  in  it,  he  will  be  enabled  to  have  his 
path  blazed  in  advance  of  him,  both  by  the  light  emanating 
from  the  counsel  associated  with  him,  and  those  opposed  to 
him.  His  power  of  argumentation  will  be  impelled  into 
vigorous  motion,  by  hearing  the  arguments  on  the  opposite 
side,  for  every  one  of  these,  as  it  makes  its  appearance,  will 
suggest  what  may  be  said  in  reply  to  it.  He  will  have  the 
credit  of  filling  up  every  chasm  in  the  defence  on  his  side 
which  may  have  been  omitted  by  associate  counsel  who  pre- 
ceded him.  He  will  be  afforded  an  opportunity  of  expend- 
ing his  resources  of  wit  and  repartee,  if  he  should  possess 
them,  on  the  opposite  counsel.  If  he  should  surpass  his 
brethren  who  are  associated  with  him,  in  the  work  of  making 
a  reply,  it  will  enable  him  to  display  his  powers  in  that  ex- 
ercise of  talent  to  some  advantage ;  and  this  point  in  the  debate 
will  cause  the  gaping  outsiders,  who  know  nothing  of  these 
things,  to  believe  that  the  concluding  speaker  has  been  placed 


216         THE  ELIGIBLE   POSITION  IN  A  DEBATE. 

at  that  particular  point  because  he  is  the  great  man  of  his 
side. 

The  advantages  which  result  to  a  cause  from  placing  any 
particular  speaker  at  the  concluding  point  in  a  debate,  are 
referable  purely  to  his  quickness  of  apprehension  in  discov- 
ering the  weak  points  of  an  adversary,  his  power  and  address 
in  assailing  such  points,  his  dexterity  in  repairing  the  intrin- 
sic flaws  of  his  cause,  and  in  filling  up  such  chasms  as  have  been 
produced  in  the  defence  by  the  oversight  of  associate  coun- 
sel, and  to  his  general  agreeableness  and  ability  as  a  speaker. 

There  are  a  few  very  glaring  disadvantages  which  may  ac- 
crue to  a  speaker  from  the  fact  of  reserving  his  resources  for 
the  conclusion  of  a  debate.  In  most  cases,  he  will  find  himself 
anticipated  in  all  his  favorite  points  by  the  speakers  who 
precede  him,  and  in  repeating  the  arguments  previously  used 
by  them,  he  will  present  himself  in  the  attitude  of  a  copyist, 
though  his  arguments  may  be  the  creations  of  his  o\mi  inge- 
nuity. If  he  should  succeed  immediately,  in  the  progress  of 
a  discussion,  a  speaker  of  superior  ability,  whose  positions  he 
may  not  be  able  to  shake  or  overturn,  he  will  be  temporarily 
injured  by  the  contrast.  He  will  be  held  responsible,  by  those 
interested  in  the  issues  of  the  cause  on  his  side,  for  every 
omission  on  his  part  to  use  the  materials  of  defence  before 
him.  And  if  the  cause  is  a  complex  one,  involving  a  great 
variety  of  principles,  a  mass  of  conflicting  testimony,  and  a 
number  of  speeches  to  answer,  his  powers  of  attention  will 
be  painfully  taxed  in  the  work  of  separatmg  the  pure  ore 
from  the  dross,  in  the  elements  of  defence  and  assault,  which 
may  be  spread  before  him. 

Although  the  opening  speech  in  a  cause  is  in  most  in- 
stances shunned,  like  the  fang  of  a  deadly  serpent,  by  all 
ambitious  members  of  the  bar,  yet  it  is  a  locality  in  debate 
which  may  not  be  entirely  destitute  of  attraction  to  a  mind 
of  comprehensive  grasp.  A  mind  of  the  preceding  descrip- 
tion, exerted  in  all  its  vigor  on  the  elements  of  a  cause,  in 


THE  ELIGIBLE   POSITIOK  IN  A  DEBATE.         217 

advance  of  all  other  speakers,  will  be  apt  to  leave  traces  in 
its  progress  which  cannot  be  obliterated  by  adverse  counsel, 
and  having  pre-occupied  the  ground,  will  frequently  have  ex- 
hausted all  the  best  defences  and  points  disclosed  by  a  case 
before  the  debate  reaches  the  concluding  counsel  on  the 
same  side.  He  will  thus  make  impressions  for  his  own  side 
of  a  question  by  speaking  first,  which  his  adversaries  will 
not  be  competent  to  efface ;  and  he  will  present  the  counsel 
associated  with  him  in  the  light  of  copyists,  in  pressing  into 
their  service  precisely  the  same  arguments  and  points  which 
he  may  have  already  totally  exhausted. 

If,  in  the  trial  of  a  cause,  the  argument  should  be  opened 
on  one  side  and  concluded  on  that  side,  and  two  or  more 
counsel  on  the  opposite  side  of  such  cause  should  present 
their  arguments  to  the  jury,  between  the  counsel  on  that 
side  which  had  both  the  opening  and  the  conclusion,  the 
counsel  among  that  number  which  argues  in  the  central  posi- 
tion, who  opens  on  his  side,  will  possess  the  advantage  of  both 
an  opening  speech,  and  of  a  concluding  one,  in  some  respects. 
The  opening  counsel  of  the  two  or  three  who  argue  in  the 
middle  and  between  two  speakers  on  the  opposite  side,  will 
have  the  advantage  of  anticipating  his  associates  in  all  their 
available  points  of  defence,  and  he  will  have,  equally  with 
those  who  succeed  him  on  his  side,  the  benefit  of  replying  to 
the  positions  which  may  have  been  assumed  by  the  opening 
counsel  on  the  adverse  side  of  the  question. 

The  question  has  been  frequently  propounded,  without  any 
satisfactory  or  positive  solution,  as  to  which  formed  the  most 
eligible  position  in  a  controversy  where  there  were  but  two 
contestants.  This  question  must  be  settled  with  a  due  re- 
gard to  the  relative  ability  of  two  antagonists  in  debate.  If 
there  are  but  two  speeches  to  be  made  on  any  given  occasion, 
and  one  of  the  speakers  is  endowed  with  but  moderate  pow- 
ers, a  prudent  opponent  would  decide  that  a  speaker  of  such 
moderate  abilities  should  precede  him  in  debate,  for  the  ob- 

10 


218         THE  ELIGIBLE  POSITION  IN  A  DEBATE. 

vious  reason  that  a  feeble  speaker  will  make  no  impression 
which  a  gifted  one  will  find  it  difficult  to  destroy  ;  whilst  the 
latter,  in  destroying  the  positions  of  his  adversary,  will  be 
presented  with  an  open  and  fair  field  in  which  to  exert  his 
own  reasoning  faculties,  without  any  sort  of  obstruction. 

If,  however,  there  are  but  two  contestants  in  any  given 
case,  and  they  should  both  prove  to  be  men  of  extraordinary 
endowments  in  debate,  a  prudent  debater  would,  in  most 
cases,  concede  the  concluding  speech  to  an  opponent  of  ex- 
traordinary ability,  where  there  are  but  two  speeches  to  be 
made.  Because,  if  a  speaker  of  the  character  just  mention- 
ed should  engrave  upon  the  mind  of  a  jury,  or  any  other  as- 
sembly, the  first  impressions  which  are  made  concerning  a 
cause  or  question,  it  will  be  very  difficult  for  a  conclusion  of 
the  most  masterly  ability  completely  to  remove  impressions 
thus  early  and  powerfully  imprinted. 

In  deliberative  assemblies,  a  speaker  may  glean  large  sup- 
plies of  information  and  of  reasoning  both,  from  other  speak- 
ers, by  postponing  his  remarks  until  towards  the  close  of  a 
pending  discussion.  But  he  may  also  lose  in  this  way  by 
having  all  the  grounds  or  positions  which  he  might  wish  to 
take  when  he  debates  the  question  himself,  previously  assum- 
ed by  others.  And  in  addition  to  this  disadvantage  resulting 
from  the  practice  of  reserving  one's  remarks  until  late  in  a 
debate,  the  debate  itself  may  be  entirely  divested  of  its 
power  to  interest  the  attention  long  before  it  reaches  a  pro- 
crastinating speaker.  And  if  the  interest  connected  with  the 
question  under  discussion  should  unfortunately  evaporate  be- 
fore it  reaches  him  who  speaks  at  or  near  its  concluding  point, 
all  his  efforts  to  gain  an  appreciating  attention  from  his  au- 
dience will  be  futile  and  vain.  In  a  deliberative  assembly, 
a  participation  in  debate  about  midway  in  its  progress  will 
prove  in  most  cases  the  most  eligible  point  for  a  speaker,  be- 
cause, when  he  shall  appear  on  the  stage  as  a  participant  at 
that  point,  he  will  then  have  been  able  to  observe  the  question 


THE  ELIGIBLE  POSITION  IN  A  DEBATE.         219 

at  issue  in  all  its  bearings  and  relations,  from  the  course  pur- 
sued by  the  speakers  on  both  sides  of  the  subject,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  this,  he  will  not  at  this  point  of  the  debate  have 
lost  the  ear  of  the  body  he  is  connected  with,  for  the  matter 
in  debate  will  about  this  time  have  reached  the  acme  of  its 
interest. 

The  man  in  the  reply  usually  thinks  he  must  reply  to 
everything  which  has  been  said  by  the  speakers  adverse  to 
himself,  no  matter  how  minute  and  innoxious  the  particles 
of  proposition  may  be.  And  this  course  he  indulges  in  from 
the  united  force  of  vanity  and  weakness.  Considerations  of 
personal  vanity  stimulate  him  to  reply  to  every  proposition 
of  an  adversary,  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  the  reputation  of 
being  expert  in  a  reply.  Imperfection  of  ability  prompts 
him  to  this  course,  because  with  the  assistance  of  the  pegs 
or  pins  to  hang  arguments  upon,  which  are  presented  to  view 
in  the  points  presented  by  opposing  counsel,  he  may  appear 
to  be  making  a  respectable  argument ;  without  such  aids  he 
would  not  even  enjoy  the  benefit  of  appearing  to  make  a 
tolerable  argument. 

But  this  device  of  weakness  and  vanity  should  be  studious- 
ly and  sedulously  avoided  by  every  speaker  who  feels  any 
concern  for  the  success  of  his  cause,  or  any  regard  for  his  own 
convenience.  For  by  promiscuously  answering  all  the  posi 
tions  of  an  adversary,  the  speaker  will  conceal  the  meritori- 
ous and  available  points  in  his  cause,  by  burying  them  be- 
neath a  mass  of  rubbish  of  his  own  creation,  and  will  ren- 
der his  own  labors  much  more  irksome  and  fatiguing  by  un- 
necessarily magnifying  their  amount. 

A  speaker  should  reply  to  as  few  points  of  an  adversary 
as  possible,  and  these  points  should  be  selected  with  master- 
ly discretion.  For  by  noticing  everything  which  has  been 
said  by  an  opponent,  the  impression  may  be  imparted  to  the 
minds  of  those  in  whose  opinions  a  speaker  is  interested,  that 
a  great  deal  may  be  said  on  the  opposite  side ;  and  that  it 


220  THE   INTKODUCTION  OF  ANECDOTES. 

yields  a  large  supply  of  materials  for  defence.  And  another 
objection  to  this  indiscriminate  mode  of  replying  to  argu- 
ments already  made,  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  in  thus 
multiplying  the  opposing  points  which  he  is  to  touch,  a 
speaker  must  inevitably  have  his  attention  diverted  from  the 
points  of  intrinsic  strength  on  his  own  side,  in  such  a  way  that 
he  will  touch  them  but  feebly. 

A  speaker  may  at  times  acquire  some  appearance  of 
strength  for  a  cause  which  is  utterly  destitute  of  intrinsic  re- 
sources of  virtue  and  merit  itself,  by  declaiming  terribly  on 
the  defects  and  demerits  of  an  adversary's  cause,  but  this  is 
a  work  which  must  be  conducted  with  great  address  and  ex- 
pertness  to  insure  its  success. 


CHAPTER   LXII. 

THE    INTRODUCTION    OF    ANECDOTES   INTO   A   DISCOURSE   OR   AROUifENT. 

The  introduction  of  an  amusing  anecdote  or  incident  at 
the  opening,  and  even  at  other  points  of  a  discourse  during 
the  progress  of  its  delivery,  may  produce  a  felicitous  effect 
in  placing  the  opposing  counsel  or  his  client,  and  perhaps 
both,  in  a  ludicrous  position.  Or  it  may  have  a  tendency 
to  inspire  a  jury  or  an  audience  with  prepossessions  in  favor 
of  the  speaker  himself,  just  as  a  pleasant  remark  by  one  on 
being  introduced  to  a  stranger,  disarms  the  latter  at  once  of 
all  reserve,  and  gives  an  animating  touch  to  his  social  and 
colloquial  qualities. 

Those  who  have  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  an  enlarged  con- 
verse with  the  world,  have  experienced  the  genial  and  charm- 
ing influence  of  a  single  kind  or  spicy  remark  uttered  to  them 
by  a  stranger,  in  relation  to  whom  they  had  maintained  an 


THE  INTEODUCTION  OF  ANECDOTES.  221 

icy  deportment  at  the  same  table  for  weeks,  and  to  whom 
they  had,  perhaps,  resolved  never  to  speak  a  single  word. 
Thus  it  is  with  an  amusing  anecdote  drawn  from  the  familiar 
scenes  of  life,  when  appropriately  introduced  into  an  address, 
speech,  or  argument.  It  presents  the  speaker  in  the  light  of 
an  acquaintance  to  the  body  he  is  addressing,  the  wall  of 
separation  between  him  and  his  hearers  is  removed,  and 
they  feel  as  if  they  could  afford  to  join  with  him  in  the  re- 
creations of  a  familiar  old-fashioned  conversation. 

The  relation  of  an  anecdote,  too,  at  the  commencement  of 
a  speech,  has  the  effect  of  placing  the  speaker  himself  at  ease, 
especially  if  he  should  be  encumbered  with  an  unusual 
amount  of  diffidence ;  for  when  he  succeeds  in  eliciting  symp- 
toms of  pleasure  and  of  mirthfulness  from  those  to  whom  he 
is  speaking,  at  the  very  threshold  of  his  observations,  these 
lively  sensations,  by  the  process  of  reflection,  are  transfused 
into  his  own  bosom,  and  he  proceeds  through  the  whole  tenor 
of  his  discourse  with  a  light  heart  and  with  an  easy  and 
elastic  pace.  An  exhibition  of  amusement  thus  produced,  is 
calculated  to  enliven  the  path  of  the  most  assured  speaker ; 
but  on  the  breast  of  one  who  is  in  some  degree  paralyzed  by 
timidity,  it  pours  the  same  measure  of  relief  which  is  im- 
parted to  the  feelings  of  an  urchin  who  whistles  or  sings 
when  passing  at  night  through  the  solitude  of  a  thicket  which 
he  imagines  to  be  infested  with  ghosts  and  hobgoblins. 
When  the  little  fellow  discovers  that  he  is  not  immediately 
captured  by  evil  spirits,  after  having  indulged  himself  in  a 
bravado  so  presumptuous  as  that  of  having  rendered  the 
woods  vocal  with  his  own  music,  or  shrill  with  his  own  breath, 
his  heart  becomes  lighted  up  with  the  warm  flushes  of  hero- 
ism, and  proceeding  with  a  light  tread,  he  tacitly  bids  the 
dreaded  fiends  to  advance  at  their  peril.  The  diffident 
speaker  becomes  emboldened  pretty  much  after  the  same 
fashion,  when,  instead  of  being  coldly  repulsed  by  an  au- 
audience,  for  a  display  of  so  much  impudence  as  he  im- 


222  THE  INTRODUCTION  OP  ANECDOTES. 

agines  to  be  embraced  in  the  narration  of  a  joke,  he  feels 
himself  honored  by  a  benevolent  smile  or  by  electric  peals 
of  laughter.  He  becomes  at  once  inspired  with  the  con- 
fident assurance,  that  if  he  has  been  able  to  pass  unscathed 
through  such  a  perilous  attempt  as  that,  he  is  competent  to 
stand  all  other  dangers  which  beset  his  path  on  the  occasion. 
The  caution  which  has  been  adopted  in  explaining  this  prin- 
ciple in  our  nature,  as  applicable  to  speakers,  may  be  re- 
garded as  culpable  particularity ;  but  having  frequently 
observed  the  value  of  this  expedient  to  debaters  of  shrinking 
modesty,  it  has  been  thought  that  no  expenditure  of  words 
could  be  too  extravagant,  which  might  serve  to  portray  its 
effect  to  the  young  and  inexperienced. 

The  chief  end  to  be  accomplished  by  the  use  of  anecdotes, 
in  their  application  to  the  opposing  counsel  or  his  client,  is 
to  divest  the  defence  they  have  presented  of  their  cause  of  its 
gravity  and  solidity,  by  the  effect  of  a  ludicrous  image.  If 
the  positions  assumed  and  the  arguments  made  by  counsel 
are  covered  with  ridicule,  they  will  prove  like  shots  dis- 
charged  from  a  fowling-piece,  which  have  merely  penetrated 
the  surface  of  the  skin,  and  which  may  be  easily  extracted. 
If  the  counsel  hunself  should  be  temporarily  thrown  into  a 
droll  or  grotesque  position,  by  the  relation  of  an  apposite  and 
felicitous  anecdote,  what  he  has  said  will  contract  in  some 
degree  the  hues  of  that  drollery,  and  it  will  form  a  difficult 
task  for  the  body  which  has  been  addressed,  to  regard,  with 
proper  seriousness,  the  strongest  points  submitted  by  him. 
If  the  client  should  become  the  victim  of  derision,  the  whole 
merits  of  his  cause  will  frequently  catch  a  taint  from  the 
farcical  levity  which  surrounds  his  own  person,  and  it  will  be 
difficult  for  the  jury  to  believe,  during  the  time,  "  that  any 
good  thing  can  emanate  from  Nazareth."  Ridicule  was  an 
efficient  and  sometimes  a  deadly  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the 
ancient  Greeks,  when  they  wished  to  blast  an  obnoxious 
individual ;  and  its  fatality,  in  its  application  to  prominent 


THE  TNTEODUCTIOISr  OF  ANECDOTES.  223 

and  hated  persons,  was  experienced  during  the  progress  of 
the  French  Revolution. 

But  there  is  yet  another  use  of  anecdotes  which  is  com- 
mended, perhaps,  by  a  larger  yield  of  practical  good,  and  sanc- 
tified by  a  purer  morality,  than  any  appropriation  of  them 
which  has  been  thus  far  submitted.  They  serve,  when  related 
occasionally  during  the  delivery  of  a  protracted  discourse  of 
any  description,  to  disarm  it  of  its  monotony  and  tedious- 
ness,  and  to  refresh  the  wearied  attention  of  an  audience. 
They  answer,  in  this  aspect  of  their  use,  the  same  purpose 
which  is  accomplished  by  relief  posts  along  a  lengthened  and 
dreary  frontier.  When  the  audience  have  been  enlivened  by 
one  or  two  amusing  anecdotes  in  an  argument,  they  will  be 
looking  ahead,  with  pleasurable  anticipation,  for  other  con- 
tributions of  a  similar  character. 

But  there  are  certain  rules  to  be  applied  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  anecdotes,  of  such  stern  obligation,  that  they  should 
never  be  relaxed.  They  never  should  be  of  such  a  character 
as  to  invade  the  sanctity  of  religion,  the  precepts  of  sound 
morality,  or  the  decencies  of  life.  For,  independent  of  the 
prohibition  of  such  anecdotes  by  the  dictates  of  true  pro- 
priety, they  are  most  explicitly  proscribed  by  the  personal 
interest  of  the  speaker  himself  For  the  fact  of  interweaving 
with  a  public  address  of  any  kind,  an  anecdote  impregnated 
with  smut,  immorality,  or  irreligion,  will  certainly,  to  some 
extent,  reflect  an  injury  on  his  own  reputation,  and  this  no 
matter  how  vociferous  the  shouts  of  merriment  he  produces 
at  the  time. 

There  are  other  rules  connected  with  the  use  of  anecdotes, 
which  pertain  more  particularly  to  considerations  of  success. 
The  speaker  should  submit  an  anecdote  with  the  most  im- 
perturbable good  humor,  and  he  should  never  be  lured  into 
an  extravagant  use  of  them,  except  perhaps  on  the  hustings ; 
when  he  has  struck  a  mirthful  vein  in  a  promiscuous  assem- 
bly, towards  the  conclusion  of  his  address,  when  the  appetite 


224  THE  INTEODUCTION  OF  ANECDOTES. 

of  the  audience  may  be  insatiable  in  its  demand  for  nutri- 
ment of  that  kind ;  when  no  ill  consequence  will  be  apt  to 
result  from  an  overcharge  of  that  sort  of  ammunition ;  when, 
too,  in  addition  to  these  considerations,  the  speaker  may  be 
enabled  by  a  recourse  of  the  sort  to  overwhelm  an  opponent, 
or  relieve  himself  from  the  crushing  weight  of  some  pre- 
existing prejudice,  by  putting  his  audience  into  a  fine  state 
of  feeling  towards  him. 

Many  persons  cautiously  abstain  from  the  introduction  of 
anecdotes  into  a  discourse,  because,  as  they  allege  themselves, 
they  possess  no  turn  for  that  sort  of  embellishment.  There 
may  be  exhibited  in  this  exercise,  as  there  is  in  all  others 
pertaining  to  the  condition  of  man,  very  broad  shades  of 
difference  in  the  respective  talents  of  individuals.  But  every 
person  who  can  intelligibly  relate  a  simple  fact,  can  also  re- 
late an  anecdote,  if  he  only  remembers  the  facts  embraced  in 
it.  Those  who  have  reached  unrivalled  success  in  this  depart- 
ment by  practice,  were  not  experts  in  the  business  when  they 
first  commenced,  and  have  been  stimulated  to  a  more  ex- 
tended reach  of  improvement  than  they  originally  possessed, 
by  the  rewards  of  merriment  which  were  meted  out  to  their 
earliest  efforts. 

The  speaker  should  studiously  guard  against  ushering  in 
his  anecdotes  with  too  much  pomp  and  parade  of  manner ; 
for  the  feelings  of  the  audience  may  be  chilled  by  an  icy 
shower  in  the  shape  "  of  a  terrible  to  do,"  in  advance  of  the 
arrival  of  the  anecdote.  The  most  successful  mode  by  which 
to  secure  a  graceful  reception  for  an  anecdote,  is  to  take  due 
precautions  in  the  first  place,  that  it  shall  apply  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  in  the  next  place,  that  it  shall  be  submitted  in  the 
simplest  manner.  And  if  a  speaker  should  be  difl^ident  of 
his  powers  in  this  respect,  he  has  only  to  interweave  his  an- 
ecdote carelessly  as  he  proceeds  with  the  thread  of  his  dis- 
course, and  if  it  should  prove  spicy  in  its  character,  it  will 
provoke  feelings  of  mirthfulness  in  an  audience,  without  re- 


THE  EEPKESSION  OF  DIFFIDENCE.  225 

gard  to  the  deficiency  of  manner  ;  and  if  it  does  not  inspire 
merriment,  it  will  pass  for  a  part  of  the  speech,  and  not  re- 
coil on  the  speaker,  inasmuch  as  he  has  not  previously  her- 
alded its  coming  by  fixing  his  feet  and  by  making  his  bow. 


CHAPTER   LXIII. 

A  SPEAKER   SHOULD   NEVER   BE   RESTRAINED     FROM     THE   PERFORMANCE   OF 
DUTY   BY   THE   INFLUENCE   OF   DIFFIDENCE. 

There  is  a  clog  in  the  shape  of  diffidence  which  encum- 
bers the  young  energies  of  life,  to  as  great  an  extent  as  the 
movements  of  a  convict  are  cramped  by  a  ball  and  chain 
appended  to  his  person.  But  the  juvenile  aspirant  to  ora- 
torical renown  should  cast  aside  this  blighting  principle 
from  his  composition,  just  with  the  same  degree  of  im- 
petuous determination  that  he  would  hurl  a  viper  from  his 
bosom.  It  will  never  contribute  the  most  inconsiderable 
pebble  to  the  elevation  of  his  pyramid  of  personal  renown, 
whilst  it  will  meet  him  like  a  grim  spectre,  at  the  entrance 
of  every  field  of  exertion  or  enterprise  he  intends  to  explore, 
with  the  picture  of  dark  bodings  in  its  grasp,  of  defeat,  dis- 
appointment, mortification,  and  disaster. 

Every  passing  acquaintance  professes  to  cherish  the  most 
amiable  and  tender  sympathies  with  the  young  attorney 
whose  diffidence  pins  him  to  his  seat,  or  if  he  rises  to  speak, 
which  causes  his  utterance  to  falter  and  stick  in  his  throat. 
But  no  kind  messenger  of  comfort  strays  across  his  path  to 
dry  up,  by  the  application  of  sanative  words,  this  copious 
spring  of  disaster  which  perpetually  flows  in  his  bosom ; 
and  no  good  Samaritan  intervenes  to  remove  a  single  imped- 
iment which  this  doleful  defect  drops  upon  his  professiona,! 


10* 


226  THE  REPEESSION  OF  DIFFIDENCE. 

This  sensation  of  diffidence  is  inspired,  not  so  much  by  an 
under  estimate  of  his  own  capabilities,  by  a  debater,  as  it  is  by 
an  over  estimate  of  what  is  due  in  the  shape  of  perfect  execu- 
tion to  the  world.  As  the  timid  hare  apprehends  the  tread  of 
an  enemy  in  the  sound  of  every  rustling  leaf,  so  the  diffident 
young  speaker  imagines  a  stern  and  inexorable  critic  in  every 
auditor,  the  glance  of  whose  eye  he  chances  to  meet,  when  in 
the  act  of  commencing  a  speech.  But  if  intelligent  youth,  in 
pluming  its  early  wings  for  oratorical  ffights,  could  only  be 
apprized  of  the  fact,  it  is  in  nine  instances  out  of  ten,  much 
better  qualified  to  meet  the  world  in  an  exhibition  of  the 
reasoning  faculties,  than  the  world  is  to  meet  it.  And  a  dis- 
play of  confidence  by  a  speaker  at  the  commencement  of  an 
effort,  if  it  should  be  fortified  only  by  a  few  grains  of  intel- 
ligence, will  put  the  critical  propensities  of  his  audience  to 
ffight,  and  will  reduce  his  hearers  to  that  pliancy  of  disposi- 
tion which  may  enable  him  to  lead  them  captive  at  his  will. 

If  one  who  is  constitutionally  pusillanimous  can  cause  a 
perennial  spring  of  heroism  to  rise  in  his  bosom,  by  resolute- 
ly meeting  every  peril  which  arises  to  his  view  in  the  jour- 
ney of  life ;  and  if  the  individual  whose  bosom  from  infancy 
to  manhood  has  been  vividly  tortured  by  the  fear  of  ghosts, 
hobgoblins  and  fiends,  can  so  effectually  vanquish  this  defect 
of  character ;  by  marching  up  to  every  grim-looking  death's- 
head  which  he  spies  in  the  distance,  in  moon-light  travel, 
as  to  be  able  to  sleep  with  composure  in  grave-yards  and 
diarnel-houses  ;  most  certainly  the  intelligent  but  bashful 
young  speaker  will  be  competent  to  triumph  over  the 
principle  of  diffidence  in  his  own  constitution  ;  when  he 
sees  how  much  of  mediocrity  there  is  which  not  only  passes 
with  impunity  in  its  efforts  before  the  public,  but  also 
flourishes  in  the  complacent  sunshine  of  its  favor  ;  when  he 
discovers,  in  addition  to  this,  how  small  a  portion  of  wisdom 
it  requires  to  propel  the  ordinary  machinery  of  life  in  its 
operations. 


THE  BENEFIT  OF  ONE  DECISIVE  FACT.  227 

Persons,  into  the  business  of  whose  life,  speaking  must 
necessarily  enter  as  a  large  component  element,  should 
make  it  a  duty  of  imperative  obligation,  never  to  be  re 
strained  from  speaking  by  the  influence  of  diffidence,  when 
they  shall  feel  it  incumbent  upon  them  to  take  part  in 
a  discussion.  They  should  give  vent  to  the  expression  of 
their  views  on  such  occasions,  even  if  they  should  experience 
all  the  nervous  sensibility,  in  rising  to  speak,  which  they 
would  feel  if  they  were  in  the  act  of  applying  a  match  to  the 
world  that  would  blow  it  into  atoms.  This  inordinate  di£ 
fidence  must  be  vanquished  by  a  speaker  in  the  commence- 
ment of  life,  for  the  act  of  being  silenced  and  kept  back 
by  this  principle,  at  length  becomes  habitual,  and  the  priva- 
tions in  the  shape  of  usefulness  and  fame  to  which  a  speaker 
may  be  subjected  by  its  supervenmg  force,  whilst  it  does  en- 
dure, are  of  too  grave  a  character  to  be  lightly  encountered. 
The  practice  of  overcoming  it  after  frequent  repetitions,  be- 
comes habitual,  like  every  other  adventure  long  persisted  in, 
and  it  will  become  so  much  a  matter-of-course  with  a  speak- 
er to  repress  this  feeling,  after  he  has  often  slighted  its  damp- 
ing admonitions,  that  he  will  eventually  wonder  that  he  ever 
should  have  yielded  to  it. 


CHAPTER    LXIV. 

EEASONING    BY  THE  ADDUCTION   OF   A  SINGLE  FACT  OE    PRINCIPLE  IN 
DEBATE. 

The  world  is  so  greatly  addicted  to  reasoning  by  the  whole- 
sale  measure  at  the  present  stage  of  its  history,  that  any  ex- 
pedient which  promises  to  narrow  the  field  of  inquiry  in  de- 
bate, to  strip  the  process  of  reasoning  of  all  superfluous  drap- 
ery, and  to  reduce  it  to  its  essential  properties,  will  be  received 


228  THE  BENEFIT  OF  ONE  DECISIVE  FACT. 

by  the  speaking  portion  of  mankind  like  an  uninvited  guest 
at  a  feast,  with  a  chilling  and  repulsive  coldness.  Every  at- 
tempt to  contract  the  area  of  discussion,  similar  to  the  legis- 
lative guards  which  have  been  recently  thrown  around  the 
freedom  of  traffic  in  the  matter  of  spirituous  liquors,  is  de- 
nounced by  the  venders  of  windy  rhetoric  as  a  positive  en- 
croachment on  the  freedom  of  the  citizen.  Every  debater 
of  superficial  education  or  feeble  powers,  cherishes  an  um*e- 
stricted  latitude  in  debate  as  his  most  precious  privilege. 
Because,  to  such  speakers,  a  long  and  verbose  speech,  similar 
to  the  fancy-colored  kerchief  which  trails  from  the  pocket  of 
a  country  buck,  constitutes  their  proudest  badge  of  distinc- 
tion. If  the  privilege  of  vociferating  empty  and  insipid  ver- 
bosity for  five  hours  at  a  stretch,  should  be  abstracted  from 
such  men,  they  would  be  deprived  of  their  only  certain  lad- 
der of  promotion.  For  these  tedious  and  senseless  exhibitions 
of  loquacity,  similar  to  the  foam  on  the  fountain  and  the  froth 
on  the  syllabub,  exert  a  powerful  share  of  fiscination  over 
superficial  and  illiterate  minds.  For  the  sound  and  the  stuff 
present  themselves  in  unmeasured  quantities  to  the  view,  and 
it  is  a  matter  of  but  little  concern  to  the  unreflecting  crowd, 
whether  under  this  gay  and  bubbling  surface  there  be  any 
sound  nutriment  or  healthful  liquid  or  not.  It  would  conse- 
quently prove  as  severe  a  measure  of  retrenchment  to  windy 
orators,  to  engraft  any  restriction  upon  the  usages  of  the  times 
which  would  bring  interminable  speeches  into  disrepute,  as 
it  would  be  to  snatch  from  the  grasp  of  a  noisy  urcliin  his 
favorite  rattle,  and  to  cast  it  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

But  all  judicious  and  practical  men,  in  an  age  which  is  ever 
on  the  wing  in  search  of  utility,  will  hail  with  delight  the 
advent  of  any  improvement  which  may  gild  the  prospects 
of  the  future  with  the  auspicious  hope  of  expelling  forever, 
from  human  society,  that  perpetual  and  insatiate  absorbent 
of  time,  the  mania  loquendi.  For  speeches  of  indefinite  length 
stand  in  the  same  relation  to  the  business  of  the  world  with 


THE  BENEFIT  OF  ONE  DECISIVE  FACT.  229 

copper  and  other  base  metals  which  encumber  its  circulating 
medium.  It  requires  such  an  extended  volume  of  such  mat- 
ter to  effect  any  beneficent  object,  that  these  speeches,  like 
the  coins  in  question,  should  be  driven  to  take  their  position 
exclusively  at  the  rear  of  the  oyster-carts  and  other  ignoble 
stands  for  business. 

There  is  one  mode  of  approaching  a  subject  under  dis- 
cussion, which  commends  itself  to  the  favor  of  the  passing 
age,  not  only  from  the  immense  saving  of  time  which  it 
secures  to  the  hearers  of  speeches,  but  also  from  the  vast 
economy  in  the  expenditure  of  labor  which  it  effects  for  those 
whose  business  it  is  to  make  speeches.  The  method  of 
debating,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  is  that  of  rea- 
soning by  the  introduction  of  a  single  fact  or  principle,  which 
may  be  decisive  of  the  fate  of  a  measure,  either  in  securing 
its  adoption  or  producing  its  defeat.  This  mode  of  reasoning 
has  been  sanctified  by  the  example  of  the  principal  architect 
of  the  temple  of  American  freedom,  and  by  that  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  one  of  the  great  apostles  of  liberty,  whose  fame 
shines  in  the  same  constellation  with  that  of  Washington,  and 
who  was  guiding  his  country  to  safety  in  the  counsels  of  peace- 
ful wisdom  by  his  experience,  whilst  the  Father  of  his  Country 
was  conducting  her  forces  to  victory  and  glory  by  his  heroism 
and  discretion  in  the  field.  Washington  spoke  but  seldom  in 
the  convention  which  adopted  the  Federal  Constitution,  as  will 
appear  by  consulting  the  journal  of  that  body,  but  when  he 
did  rise  from  his  seat,  it  was  almost  universally  to  state  some 
decisive  fact  or  principle  which  bore  immediately  upon  the 
subject,  and  he  was  certain  to  exert  a  formidable  influence 
on  the  fate  of  the  question  pending  before  the  house,  by 
the  pertinent  character  of  the  fact  or  principle  adduced  by 
him,  as  well  as  by  the  unrivalled  weight  of  his  character. 
Franklin  generally  reasoned  by  the  introduction  of  practical 
principles  and  examples  drawn  from  the  ample  records  of 


280  THE  BENEFIT  OF  ONE  DECISIVE  FACT. 

nature  and  from  the  great  volume  of  life,  and  he  frequently- 
put  to  flight  a  bevy  of  prolix  speakers. 

If  any  member  of  a  legislative  assembly,  opposed  to  some 
commercial  measure  that  might  be  under  discussion  in  the 
house  to  which  he  belonged,  should  produce  a  passage  of 
political  history  which  would  prove,  with  incontrovertible 
clearness,  that  the  same  measure,  when  adopted  on  a  former 
occasion,  had  scattered  bankruptcy  and  ruin  in  its  train, 
wherever  it  had  been  acted  on,  it  would  prove  exceedingly 
difficult  for  the  supporters  of  such  a  measure  to  overcome 
the  effect  of  this  authority  against  it. 

If  a  candidate  before  the  people  for  some  highly-attractive 
station,  should  proclaim  from  the  hustings  the  prodigious  sac- 
rifices he  had  made  for  his  country  during  the  last  war  with 
Britain,  or  with  Mexico,  the  charm  of  his  vaunted  services 
would  vanish  into  mist  and  vapor,  if  an  opponent  should 
reply  to  him  by  the  production  of  resolutions  which  had  been 
offered  by  the  boasting  member  at  some  public  meeting 
years  before,  strongly  condemnatory  of  either  of  the  wars  in 
question. 

If  the  payee  of  a  note  of  hand,  should  institute  suit  against 
the  ostensible  drawer  of  the  note,  for  the  amount  purporting 
to  be  due  on  the  face  of  the  instrument,  it  would  interpose 
an  unsuperable  bar  to  the  recovery  of  the  claim,  if  the  de- 
fendant should  produce  positive  proof  that  he  was  in  a  for- 
eign country  concurrently  with  the  date  of  the  note. 

Facts  like  the  preceding  stand  immovable  to  the  sternest 
pressure  which  may  be  brought  to  bear  upon  them  by  the 
resources  of  argument  and  eloquence.  The  only  way  of 
obtaining  relief  from  the  influence  of  such  facts,  is  to  intro- 
duce countervailing  testimony  to  disprove  them,  for  they 
cannot  be  reasoned  down. 

This  mode  of  arguing  a  question,  suits  beyond  all  others 
a  modest  attorney  or  legislator,  who  entertains  an  invincible 
aversion  to  making  speeches,  for  whilst  it  saves  him  the  phys- 


EESERVING  FACTS  FOR  EFFECT.       231 

ical  exertion  and  the  trial  of  sensibility  incident  to  the  de- 
livery of  a  long  argument,  it  at  the  same  time  renders  the 
person  who  adduces  such  facts  more  formidable  in  debate, 
if  it  should  be  his  fortune  to  submit  them  with  frequency, 
than  the  most  eloquent  and  elaborate  speakers. 

It  is  not  in  the  discussion  of  every  question  that  facts  of 
such  crushing  weight  can  be  produced.  But  research  and 
perseverance  will  enable  a  statesman  or  an  attorney  to  pro- 
duce them  much  oftener  than  is  generally  apprehended. 
And  all  that  the  legislator  or  lawyer  has  to  do,  in  submitting 
such  fact  to  a  court  or  a  deliberative  assembly,  is  simply  to 
introduce  the  fact,  and  to  propound  the  inquiry,  "  if  this  fact 
be  true,  how  can  the  gentleman's  doctrines  or  proposition 
prevail  ?"  The  fact  itself,  fortified  by  this  simple  question, 
will  ordinarily  produce  an  effect  which  it  would  require  oceans 
of  ink  and  ages  of  ingenious  reasoning  to  destroy. 


CHAPTER  LXV. 

THE   POLICY   OF   KESKRVING   PARTICULAR    FACTS    BY    A   SPEAKER   TO   BE    DIS- 
CLOSED  BY   HIM   IN   THE    DELIVERY    OF   AN   ARGUMENT. 

It  may  prove  an  available  resource  to  a  debater  on  many 
occasions,  to  keep  in  reserve  until  some  very  suitable  point 
for  its  disclosure  shall  be  reached  in  the  progress  of  his  ar- 
gument, any  very  startling  or  important  fact  which  may  be 
in  his  possession,  unknown  to  his  opponents,  and  which  may 
possibly  have  a  direct  tendency  to  settle  the  question  in  con- 
troversy directly  against  them. 

A  controversialist  in  any  department  of  life,  whether  it 
be  in  Politics,  Law,  Science,  or  Literature,  will  in  most  cases 
be  enabled  to  determine  with  a  very  near  approach  to  accu- 
racy, the  auspicious  moment  in  the  speech  he  is  delivering, 


282      RESERVINa  OF  FACTS  FOR  EFFECT. 

for  popping  upon  his  adversary  a  fact  or  circumstance,  the 
force  of  which  cannot  be  easily  counteracted. 

In  a  trial  at  law,  a  receipt  for  the  specific  sum  concerning 
which  the  suit  on  trial  was  instituted,  some  fact  which  is  ut- 
terly inconsistent  with  a  date  which  constitutes  the  main 
hinge  of  the  opposite  party's  case,  or  any  passage  of  inform- 
ation, the  sudden  revelation  of  which  may  take  an  adversary 
by  surprise,  or  impart  to  the  matter  in  controversy  an  en 
tirely  new  complexion  in  the  estimation  of  a  Court  and  Jury, 
are  specimens  of  the  controversial  tact  to  which  we  have  re 
ferred  in  the  commencement  of  this  chapter. 

In  every  species  of  discussion  which  is  known  to  mankind, 
whether  it  pertains  to  politics,  literature,  or  general  science, 
a  debater  may  with  peculiar  advantage  to  his  cause,  preserve 
until  the  audience  shall  be  completely  ripe  for  its  reception, 
any  fact  which  may  be  perfectly  inconsistent  with  the  propo- 
sitions, doctrines,  or  principles  affirmed  by  an  opponent. 

It  may  serve  his  interests  to  approach  the  delivery  of  the 
momentous  fact  with  the  stealthy  tread  of  one  of  the  feline 
race,  and  watching  the  feelings  of  the  body  to  whom  his  re- 
marks are  addressed,  together  with  the  peculiar  adaptation 
of  some  particular  point  or  passage  in  his  argument  to  the 
discharge  of  the  shot  which  he  wishes  to  be  fatal,  he  should 
let  it  descend  on  his  adversary  like  a  thunderbolt  from  a  se- 
rene and  clear  sky. 

If  a  debater  should  have  in  his  possession  any  historical 
fact  of  incontestible  authenticity,  the  production  of  which 
may  be  absolutely  flital  to  his  adversary's  assumptions,  he 
may  in  the  course  of  his  remarks  submit  such  opposing  fact 
to  his  audience,  with  the  simple  interrogatory,  How  can  the 
gentleman's  proposition  be  valid  if  the  fact  in  question  be 
true?  And  if  the  fact  thus  introduced  bo  not  utterly  dis- 
proved, it  will  stand  against  all  opposing  assaults,  like  an 
immovable  rock  in  the  ocean  when  lashed  by  the  surround 
ing  billows. 


THE  ABUSE   OF  PARTIES  AND  WITNESSES.       233 

If  a  debater  should  obtain  a  passage  of  personal  history  in 
the  life  of  his  opponent  which  is  utterly  antagonistic  to  the 
positions  assumed  and  the  professions  made  by  him  in  the 
course  of  the  debate  then  in  progress,  he  may  very  quietly 
and  carelessly  in  the  course  of  his  remarks,  bring  the  piece 
of  history  in  question  to  the  notice  of  his  audience,  prefacing 
the  introduction  of  the  matter  at  the  same  time  with  the  in- 
timation of  a  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  his  opponent  then 
before  the  assembly,  with  the  one  associated  with  the  per- 
sonal incident  submitted. 


CHAPTER    LXVI. 

THE    PROPRIETY   OF   ABUSIVE    LANGUAGE    BEING    APPLIED   TO    PARTIES    AND 
WITNESSES    BY    ADVOCATES,    CONSIDERED. 

A  LARGE  proportion  of  professional  men,  in  the  morning 
of  their  career  at  the  bar,  conceive  it  to  be  an  act  fraught 
with  chivalry  and  daring,  to  load  with  opprobrious  epithets 
and  abuse  clients  and  witnesses  on  the  opposite  side  to  them- 
selves. This  is  a  mistaken  and  perverted  view  of  qualities 
and  eifects.  This  practice  wears  the  semblance  of  intrepidity, 
because,  in  the  act  of  abusing  a  rational  being  endowed  with 
the  usual  share  of  sensibility  and  resentment,  an  advocate  is 
sure  to  incur  the  anger  and  hatred  of  the  object  of  his  abuse. 
And  these  emotions  of  the  human  heart,  when  fortified  by 
the  power  to  requite  retribution,  and  a  parity  of  rank  with 
the  offending  individual,  may  by  possibility  produce  some 
mischief  to  him.  But  in  the  case  now  under  consideration, 
the  resemblance  to  heroism  and  daring,  is  purely  a  counterfeit 
similitude. 

The  suitor  or  witness  possesses  no  privileges  withm  the 


234       THE  ABUSE   OF  PARTIES  AND  WITNESSES. 

circle  of  the  bar  as  a  speaker,  and  here  there  is  a  glaring  dis- 
parity presented  in  the  respective  conditions  of  the  aggressive 
attorney  and  the  aggrieved  suitor.  But  even  if  suitors  and 
witnesses  should  be  clothed  with  every  privilege  of  speaking 
within  the  bar  which  pertains  to  a  licensed  practitioner,  it 
would  be  a  privilege  perfectly  barren  of  useful  results  to  them 
in  resentmg  the  abuse  of  a  member  of  the  bar — for  not  having 
been  regularly  bred  and  trained  to  the  practice  of  speaking, 
there  are  but  few  suitors  or  witnesses  who  could  use  the 
privilege  of  speaking  with  much  advantage  to  themselves  in 
retorting  on  an  attorney. 

There  is  another  consideration,  too,  which  has  a  powerful 
tendency  to  deter  suitors  and  witnesses,  especially  those  of 
a  moderate  share  of  elevation  and  influence  in  society,  from 
resenting  the  abuse  heaped  upon  them  in  the  trial  of  a  cause, 
by  advocates  and  attorneys.  Parties  bearing  this  relation 
to  an  attorney,  are  sure  to  imbibe  the  impression,  in  some 
degree  of  strength,  that  the  lawyer  inflicts  this  gross  aggress- 
ion on  the  rights  of  his  fellow  men,  under  the  robe  of  his 
oflice ;  in  other  words,  they  think  his  abuse  has  been  offi- 
cially  applied  to  them.  And  this  consideration  is  sure  to 
repress  wrath,  except  in  those  volcanic  bosoms  from  which 
the  flame  of  resentment  bursts  forth  like  an  impetuous  tor- 
rent, sweeping  before  it  in  its  progress  every  impediment 
and  mound  of  opposition  which  may  be  interposed  either  by 
law  or  usage. 

Adopting  the  preceding  views  of  the  subject  as  being  cor- 
rect, the  practice  of  assailing  suitors  and  witnesses  with  bitter 
asperity,  so  far  from  constituting  a  brave  or  a  chivalrous  act, 
verges  very  strongly  to  the  opposite  property  of  cowardice, 
for  it  is  a  responsibility  assumed  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring 
the  reputation  of  intrepidity,  when,  in  most  cases,  there  is  no 
real  peril  encountered.  But  whether  an  advocate  indulges 
himself  in  a  vein  of  abuse,  from  a  desire  to  earn  a  character  for 
bravery  on  cheap  and  easy  terms,  or  whether  he  adopts  this 


THE  ABUSE  OF  PARTIES  AND  WITNESSES.       235 

unworthy  expedient  as  a  lure  to  suitors  who  may  be  stimu- 
lated to  employ  him  in  the  management  of  their  business, 
with  the  hope  of  procuring  a  suitable  vehicle  through  which 
to  convey  their  malice  to  the  objects  of  their  hatred,  merits 
the  severest  reprehension. 

For  humanity  is  a  virtue  which  is  imperiously  enjoined, 
not  only  by  the  precepts  of  our  eternal  system  of  faith,  but 
which  is  also  explicitly  prescribed  by  every  sound  system  of 
social  ethics.  And  its  application  has  not  been  limited,  by 
these  high  depositories  of  human  duty,  to  rational  nature,  but 
its  extension  to  the  brute  creation  has  not  only  been  sternly 
enjoined,  but  the  injunction  is  supported  in  many  enlightened 
nations  by  the  severest  penal  enactments. 

But  if  cruelty  and  ruggedness  shall  be  practiced  on  that 
theatre  of  action  where  intelligence  and  gentleness  might 
naturally  be  expected  to  reign  supreme,  what  are  we  to 
expect  amidst  the  rougher  and  less  cultivated  pursuits  of 
life  1  For  when  we  speak  of  cruelty,  we  do  not  confine  our 
remarks  to  those  exhibitions  of  the  vice  which  are  executed 
through  the  medium  of  torture,  stripes,  and  burning  plough- 
shares ;  but  we  also  refer  to  that  butchery  of  human  feelings 
which  may  be  perfected  through  the  use  of  brutal  and  fero- 
cious language,  and  unkind  and  demoniac  looks. 

And  the  evil  results  of  this  revolting  practice,  do  not 
terminate  in  the  infliction  of  pain  on  the  feelings  of  helpless 
and  defenceless  suitors.  By  long  perseverance  in  it,  a  mind 
constitutionally  kind  and  gentle  will  contract  an  artificial 
tendency  to  coarseness,  harshness,  and  cruelty. 


236  ALLUSION  IN  DEBATE  TO  PERSONS. 


CHAPTER    LXVII. 

A  DEBATEE  SHOULD  NEVER,  WHILST  ENGAGED  IN  SPEAKING,  SINGLE  OUT 
ANY  MEMBER  OF  A  JURY  OR  PERSON  IN  ANY  OTHER  ASSEMBLY,  AND 
ADDRESS    HIS   REMARKS    DIRECTLY   TO   THAT  PERSON. 

It  is  a  proposition  which  is  fortified  by  the  best  experience 
of  the  world,  that  a  person  engaged  in  addressing  a  jury  or 
any  other  assembly  of  persons,  should  never  designate  by 
name,  any  particular  individual  in  the  assembly  to  which 
he  is  speaking,  and  direct  his  remarks  personally  to  him. 
This  expedient  is  frequently  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
grossing, through  the  medium  of  personal  vanity,  the  good 
opinion  of  the  person  thus  made  the  subject  of  special  atten- 
tion, and  also  his  influence  over  his  associates.  For  it  is 
supposed  that  the  self-esteem  of  the  person  thus  singled  out 
from  amongst  his  fellows,  will  be  so  much  soothed  by  the 
transient  distinction  he  thus  enjoys,  that  he  will  be  willing  to 
go  even  to  the  gates  of  death  to  oblige  the  lawyer  or  politi- 
cian who  thus  flatters  him.  But  the  attempt  to  which  we  have 
referred,  is  founded  almost  universally  on  a  gross  misconcep- 
tion of  the  principles  of  human  nature.  The  person  who 
receives  this  very  ephemeral  and  worthless  badge  of  distinc- 
tion, although  not  by  any  means  wounded  by  it,  will  sup- 
pose that  he  has  received  no  more  than  his  just  deserts  or 
dues  in  being  thus  addressed,  and  will  not  feel  disposed  to 
make  any  large  surrender  of  convenience  to  the  speaker  who 
has  paid  him  the  compliment.  But  there  is  another  circum- 
stance in  addition  to  this,  which  will  prevent  him  from  man- 
ifesting his  devotion  to  the  complimentary  speaker  at  the 
time  his  devotion  is  wanted,  and  in  the  particular  way  in 
which  it  is  wanted.  He  has  become  a  marked  man  by  the 
very  complimentary  notice  which  was  intended  to  buy  him ; 


ALLUSION  IN  DEBATE  TO  PEKSONS.      237 

his  liberty  of  action  is  fettered  and  circumscribed  by  the 
verbal  pittance  which  was  intended  as  a  trap  to  extract  gold- 
en opinions  from  him.  The  complimented  voter  or  juror 
cannot  display  much  enthusiasm  in  supporting  the  speaker 
who  has  catered  to  his  vanity  in  this  way,  without  having 
the  act  of  support  ascribed  by  his  brother  jurors  and  voters 
to  the  specific  matter  of  homage.  Persons  thus  situated  are 
frequently  sneered  at  and  ridiculed  by  their  associates  for  giv- 
ing their  verdict  or  suffrage  to  the  person  who  has  thus  made 
them  the  subject  of  adulation. 

But  whilst  the  person  specially  addressed  on  a  jury  or  in 
any  promiscuous  assembly  may  not  be  surely  won  by  the 
act  of  being  singled  out  by  the  speaker,  yet  the  remnant  of 
the  body  to  which  the  designated  individual  belongs,  will 
in  almost  every  instance  be  alienated  to  some  extent  from 
the  speaker.  If  the  juror  or  voter  who  happens  to  be  thus 
selected  as  a  mark  of  temporary  distinction  should  be  above 
his  fellows  in  influence  and  in  prominence,  they  will  feel 
themselves  a  little  hurt  and  aggrieved  at  the  speaker  for 
holding  up  to  the  public  view  and  rendering  more  conspicu- 
ous that  very  superiority  of  a  neighbor,  in  the  favor  and  good 
things  of  the  world,  which  has  perhaps,  previous  to  their 
getting  on  a  jury,  annoyed  them  at  every  step  they  took  in 
the  daily  walks  and  intercourse  of  life.  If  the  person  singled 
out  by  a  speaker  should  enjoy  a  parity  of  rank  and  fortune 
with  his  associates,  having  nothing  more  and  nothing  less  to 
boast  of  in  the  way  of  fortune,  talent,  or  distinction  than 
they,  why  then  they  will  fire  up  in  some  degree,  because  the 
speaker  has  committed  an  act  of  positive  injustice  in  fixing 
a  temporary  badge  of  distinction  on  their  brother  instead  of 
them.  If  the  person  on  a  jury  or  in  an  assembly  who  is 
addressed  in  the  mode  referred  to  in  the  preceding  lines, 
should  be  greatly  inferior  to  his  neighbors  in  point  of  re- 
spectability, they  will  consider  the  speaker  himself  as  stupid 
as  an  oyster,  in  annexing  so  false  an  appreciation  to  an  un- 


288     ALLUSION  IN  DEBATE  TO  PEKSONS. 

deserving  man,  or  as  unprincipled  as  a  knave  in  meting  out 
to  him  the  meed  of  personal  homage,  in  direct  contradiction 
to  his  own  better  knowledge,  whilst  the  poor  fellow  himself 
acquires  temporarily  a  comfortless  and  unenviable  celebrity, 
which  makes  him  the  subject  of  sneers  and  derision  for  hav- 
ing had  timelessly  and  injudiciously  thrust  upon  him  an  honor 
which  he  did  not  covet. 

The  preceding  practice,  considered  in  any  conceivable  light, 
can  effect  no  good  for  the  advocate  or  speaker  who  resorts  to 
it,  and  it  is  sure  to  militate  against  his  cause  in  some  slight 
degree  on  every  occasion.  Perhaps  a  punctilious  regard  to 
truth  may  require  one  exception  to  be  reserved,  where  this 
designation  of  persons  will  not  injure  the  cause  of  an  advo- 
cate or  the  popularity  of  a  speaker,  and  that  is,  where  he 
addresses  himself  to  some  venerable  father  in  Israel,  who, 
by  tacit  consent,  is  raised  several  cubits  above  every  person 
in  the  society  in  which  he  moves,  and  is  the  recipient  of  uni- 
versal homage. 

It  is  not  a  safe  or  legitimate  procedure,  either  to  address 
adulatory  observations  to  members  of  juries  or  popular 
assemblies,  according  to  the  countries  they  emanate  from. 
If  there  should  be  a  large  proportion  of  Irish  or  Germans  on 
any  particular  jury,  or  in  any  given  popular  assembly,  it  is 
the  fruit  of  a  very  low  and  grovelling  ingenuity  to  discourse 
eulogies  on  the  excellent  traits  of  the  German  or  Irish  na- 
tions, in  order  to  catch  the  few  individuals  whose  opinions 
may  be  a  matter  of  interest  at  the  time.  And  the  expedient 
is  attended  with  this  peculiar  disadvantage,  that  whilst  from 
the  grossness  and  staleness  of  its  character,  it  rarely  ever 
wins  for  the  speaker  the  favor  of  the  persons  who  are  courted 
at  the  time,  it  is  sure  to  repel  from  him  the  esteem  and  kmd 
regards  of  persons  on  a  jury  who  may  not  belong  to  either  of 
the  nations  which  may  have  been  referred  to.  There  was  an 
orator  of  unsurpassed  celebrity  in  this  country,  whose  speeches, 
from  the  commencement  to  the  close  of  liis  public  career,  are 


ALLUSION  IN  DEBATE  TO  PEESONS.  239 

blazoned  over  with  high-wrought  encomiums  on  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  Irish,  and  yet  the  music  never  charmed,  for  the 
proportion  of  either  of  these  nations  is  small  indeed  that  ever 
darkened  a  slip  of  paper  with  his  name  in  exerting  the  right 
of  suffrage. 

But  however  injudicious  it  may  be  in  a  speaker  to  address 
individuals  by  name,  on  a  jury  or  in  a  popular  assembly, 
with  a  view  of  engaging  their  partialities  in  his  behalf,  yet  he 
may  study  the  predilections  and  antipathies  of  men,  and 
shape  his  discourses  in  such  a  way  as  to  insinuate  a  predilec- 
tion in  behalf  of  himself  into  the  breast  of  every  member  of 
a  jury  invisibly  to  the  world.  Being  previously  apprized  of 
some  practice,  theory,  or  principle,  that  an  individual  in  the 
assembly  before  him  cherishes  a  profound  devotion  to,  he 
may  applaud  that  particular  principle,  theory,  or  practice,  in 
such  a  dexterous  manner,  as  to  make  the  votary  of  them  his 
own  impassioned  friend,  without  offending  the  complacency 
or  taste  of  any  one  else.  If  he  knows,  on  the  other  hand, 
any  particular  subject  to  which  any  person  in  the  assem- 
bly he  is  addressing  indulges  a  very  lively  antipathy,  he 
may  take  occasion  to  express,  in  the  course  of  his  remarks, 
if  he  may  do  so  without  infringing  his  moral  integrity,  a 
lively  abhorrence  to  the  subject  in  question.  He  may  take 
occasion  to  eulogize,  in  glowing  terms,  qualities  of  character 
in  which  certain  persons  before  him  are  known  to  abound, 
without  seeming  to  have  the  remotest  reference  at  the  time 
to  the  persons  who  possess  those  qualities.  In  addition  to 
this,  he  may  speak  slightly  and  disparagingly  of  properties 
of  mind  or  character  in  which  he  is  certain  that  other  persons 
in  an  assembly  before  him  are  known  to  be  deficient,  and 
may  build  up  such  persons  in  their  own  esteem,  by  hold- 
ing up  for  the  public  admiration  high  endowments  of  char- 
acter, to  which  these  persons  may  possess  some  slight  pre- 
tension, without  being  martyrs  in  support  of  the  particular 
excellence.      These  keys  in  the  human  machine  must  be 


240  ALLUSION  IN  DEBATE  TO  PERSONS. 

touched  under  the  control  of  a  sound  morality  on  the  part 
of  the  speaker,  and  always  with  a  due  regard  to  the  relation 
which  things  may  bear  to  each  other. 

Whilst  speaking  of  the  possibility  of  rendering  available, 
for  one's  own  benefit  or  advancement,  the  antipathies  of  other 
parties,  it  may  not  be  regarded  as  a  culpable  departure  from 
the  path  of  our  present  explorations,  to  introduce  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  ready  use  which  may  be  made  of  this  principle, 
drawn  from  the  page  of  practical  life.  There  was  a  politician 
in  one  of  the  Western  States,  more  noted  for  his  expertness 
as  an  electioneerer  than  for  his  wisdom  as  an  aichitect  of 
laws.  He  had  two  neighbors  who  were  bitter  and  implaca- 
ble foes.  Whilst  an  election  was  pending,  in  which  every 
individual  vote  enjoyed  a  high  appreciation  in  the  estimation 
of  the  expert  electioneerer,  (owing  to  the  closeness  of  the 
contest,)  one  of  these  neighbors  came  to  his  house.  The  first 
had  not  been  there  very  long,  before  the  other  neighbor,  to 
whom  he  was  so  odious  (and  whose  vote  was  yet  tremblmg 
in  doubt)  was  seen  approaching  the  house  in  the  distance. 
"  Now,"  said  the  artful  electioneerer,  to  the  neighbor  who 
was  sitting  with  him  in  the  piazza,  "  you  are  my  friend,  and 
it  is  very  doubtful  whether  Mr.  B ,  who  is  now  com- 
ing to  the  house,  will  vote  for  me  or  not.  But  as  he  hates 
you  very  much,  if,  just  as  he  is  getting  pretty  near  the  house, 
and  in  hearing,  you  will  let  me  take  you  by  the  collar  and 
kick  you  out  of  the  house,  it  will  make  him  my  everlasting 
friend."  The  first  neighbor  did  as  he  was  bidden,  and  the 
prize  was  accordingly  secured. 


EGOTISM  IN  SPEAKING.  241 


CHAPTER    LXVIII. 

NO   SPEECH   OF  ANY   DESCRIPTION   SHOULD   ABOUND  IN   ALLUSIONS  TO  THE 
SPEAKER    HIMSELF. 

A  MUSICIAN,  when  discoursing  the  divinest  melodies  from 
an  instrument,  cannot  draw  a  large  share  of  the  attention  of 
his  auditors  to  the  machine  itself,  without  abating  the  charm 
which  the  music  has  shed  upon  their  feelings ;  neither  can 
the  gorgeous  tints  in  pictures  and  flowers  be  held  up  to  the 
admiration  of  the  persons  who  survey  them,  with  a  perse- 
vering share  of  success,  without  impairing  a  higher  sense  of 
enjoyment  which  might  be  derived  from  a  due  concentration 
of  the  attention  on  the  fragrance  emitted  by  the  flower,  and 
the  perfection  of  the  sentiment  or  resemblance  conveyed  by 
the  picture. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  frequent  introduction  of  the  speaker  him- 
self upon  the  stage,  when  he  is  engaged  in  addressing  an  au- 
dience. He  cannot  indulge  in  allusions  to  himself,  in  the  pro- 
gress of  an  intellectual  performance,  without  detracting  from 
the  weight  of  what  he  says.  He  must  appear  to  be  spoken 
through,  and  not  make  his  own  person  the  star  of  attraction 
by  discoursing  about  himself.  If  he  does,  he  disparages  the 
subject  about  which  he  is  speaking.  An  instrument  derives 
some  degree  of  sacredness  in  the  estimation  of  those  who 
behold  it,  from  a  vivid  association  constantly  preserved  in 
the  mind  between  the  material  frame  of  the  instrument  and 
the  delicious  notes  which  it  breathes  when  controlled  by  a 
master's  hand.  So  it  is  with  an  orator  of  celebrity,  a  charm 
for  the  popular  mind  hangs  upon  his  person  wherever  he 
may  present  himself.  For  the  glory  of  the  eflect  produced 
is  traced  back  to  him  as  the  cause  wherever  he  appears.  But 
this  result  is  realized  when  he  appears  in  the  character  of  a 

11 


242  EGOTISM  IN  SPEAKING. 

man.  When  he  appears  before  his  fellow-beings  as  an  ora- 
tor, he  must  keep  his  individuality  off  the  stage  as  much  as 
possible.  Because,  except  in  the  case  of  an  address  which 
is  made  in  vindication  of  the  speaker's  own  character,  or 
which  may  be  purely  personal  to  him,  on  any  other  ground, 
whenever  he  dips  into  his  own  j)ersonal  concerns,  or  makes 
free  reference  to  his  own  person,  the  discourse  he  is  making 
at  the  time  will  assume  the  badge  of  frivolity,  and  be  di- 
vested of  its  intellectual  influence.  Instead  of  the  subject  be- 
ing grasped  with  tenacious  attention  by  his  hearers,  the  speak- 
er in  his  every-day  capacity  and  identity  is  presented  to  their 
minds,  and  they  feel  as  if  they  were  assembled  to  converse 
with  him  about  the  last  quadrille,  the  last  entertainment  at 
the  theatre,  or  a  late  joyous  fishing  excursion,  instead  of  be- 
ing enlightened  by  sage  instructions  reflected  from  his  mind. 

A  celebrated  cotemporary  of  Lord  Chatham  once  remark- 
ed, that  he  never  observed  that  gi-eat  man  when  speaking,  but 
he  was  struck  with  the  fact,  "  how  much  greater  the  man  was 
than  the  orator."  This  was  truly  an  enviable  compliment, 
paid  by  intelligent  lips,  to  the  exalted  personal  character  of  the 
prince  of  modern  eloquence.  But  the  phrase  in  which  the  com- 
mendation was  expressed,  shows  that  it  was  paid  to  Lord 
Chatham  utterly  abstracted  from  the  work  he  was  then  per- 
forming. But  if,  at  the  time  the  sentiment  here  expressed 
was  inspired,  Lord  Chatham,  instead  of  keeping  his  own  per- 
son in  the  background  of  contemplation,  and  his  subject  at  a 
front  view  to  his  auditors,  had  burst  from  behind  the  scenes 
and  commenced  talking  familiarly  about  his  own  concerns,  a 
letting  down  of  the  augustness  of  the  scene  would  have  oc- 
curred with  the  celerity  of  lightning,  and  his  auditors  would 
have  felt  that  they  were  addressed  by  an  ordinary  piece  of 
humanity. 

A  tendency  to  egotism  impairs  the  appreciation  of  one's 
social  qualities  in  the  daily  intercourse  of  life ;  but  it  inflicts 
a  much  more  perceptible  injury  on  tlie  influence  of  a  person, 


COURTEOUS  REPLIES  TO  QUESTIONS.  243 

when  blended  in  a  glaring  manner  with  a  performance  of 
any  of  the  intellectual  duties  of  life.  For,  apart  from  the 
fact  that  the  revelation  of  personal  vanity,  in  very  broad 
lines,  in  the  character  of  any  individual,  inspires  strong  pre- 
possessions against  him,  wherever  it  makes  its  appearance, 
there  is  yet  another  feeling  incorporated  with  frail  human- 
ity, which  prohibits  the  indulgence  of  egotism  in  a  speaker. 
And  this  is  that  imperishable  and  unquenchable  spirit  of  self- 
esteem  which  glows  in  the  breast  of  every  respectable  hu- 
man being,  and  which  causes  him  to  rebel  and  revolts  when- 
ever and  wherever  a  member  of  our  race  attempts  obvious- 
ly to  grasp  more  than  his  appropriate  share  of  honor  and 
consideration. 


CHAPTER    LXIX. 

A   DEBATER   SHOULD   GITE   COUKTEOUS   REPLIES   TO   QUESTIONS   PROPOUNDED 
TO   HIM  WHEN   SPEAKING. 

It  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  that  persons  who  are  partici- 
pating in  debate,  become  flushed  with  irritation,  and  render 
ill-natured  and  splenetic  replies  to  questions  which  may  be 
propounded  to  them  by  a  debater  on  the  opposite  side  of  a 
question  to  themselves.  This  is  exceedingly  impolitic.  If  a 
speaker  cannot  preserve  his  composure,  when  such  interroga- 
tories are  put  to  him,  he  ought  to  refrain  from  any  replica- 
tion to  them  whatever.  For  a  mere  ebullition  of  bad-temper, 
without  being  armed  with  the  property  of  superior  wit  or 
repartee,  places  the  speaker  himself  in  a  disadvantageous  point 
of  view  before  his  audience,  and  sheds  an  enervating  influ- 
ence on  his  cause.  And  an  angry  reply,  seasoned  with  the 
spiciest  degree  of  wit,  whilst  it  may  extend  the  circle  of  the 
debater's  fame,  simply  as  a  wit,  and  magnify  the  terrors  of 


244  COURTEOUS  REPLIES  TO  QUESTIONS. 

his  name  to  those  who  come  in  contact  with  him  in  public 
or  professional  life,  yet  such  replies  impart  a  dark  hue  to  the 
estimate  of  his  disposition  in  the  public  mind ;  he  makes 
many  personal  enemies  of  the  most  implacable  character ; 
infuses  the  same  dread  into  the  society  in  which  he  moves, 
which  is  created  by  the  presence  of  some  ^nimal  of  untame- 
able  ferocity,  and  is  certain  to  produce  invincible  prepossess- 
ions against  his  cause. 

It  is  by  no  means  a  novel  or  anomalous  doctrine,  that 
splendid  reputations  are  formed  by  the  presentation  of  auspic- 
ious opportunities.  It  is  an  incontestible  proposition,  that 
repeated  interrogatories,  propounded  to  a  debater  whilst  he 
is  in  the  act  of  speaking,  are  so  many  occasions  which 
may  be  crowned  with  solid  and  enduring  benefits  to  him, 
should  he  conduct  himself  under  such  circumstances  with  a 
proper  share  of  tact  and  address. 

Every  reply  rendered  by  a  speaker  on  such  occasions, 
which  may  be  marked  by  the  blandishments  of  a  graceful 
amiableness,  or  brightened  by  a  spirit  of  benevolent  and 
playful  humor,  communicates  a  charm  to  the  popular  mind 
which  does  infinitely  more  for  the  speaker  and  his  cause  than 
the  most  brilliant  flashes  of  ill-natured  wit. 

The  preceding  reprobation  of  replies,  on  the  part  of  a  de- 
bater, which  are  impregnated  with  asperity  and  anger,  has 
been  designed  chiefly  to  apply  to  the  habitual  indulgence  in 
a  practice  of  the  sort.  For  grossly  offensive  questions  put 
to  a  speaker  by  any  one,  may  merit  the  most  fatal  bolt  in 
the  shape  of  a  replication,  and  a  pertinacious  persistence  in 
impertinent  questions,  may  also  justify  the  pouring  out  of  a 
vindictive  retribution. 


WOUNDING  CLASSES  OF  MEN.  245 


CHAPTER    LXX. 

A  SPEAKEE  SHOULD  NEVER  CONDUCT  AN  ARGUMENT  IN  SUCH  A  WAY  AS 
NECESSARILY  TO  COMMUNICATE  PAIN  TO  THE  FEELINGS  OF  ANY  CLASS  OF 
PERSONS. 

It  is  a  duty  of  high  obligation  on  every  citizen  of  the 
country  when  engaged  in  the  delivery  of  a  public  address  of 
any  description,  to  avoid  giving  pain  to  any  body  of  men. 
This  is  a  duty  dictated  by  the  imperishable  principles  of  mor- 
ality, which  should  certainly  preside  in  full  force  and  suprem- 
acy over  the  actions  of  every  intelligent  being.  But  a  faith- 
ful observance  of  this  duty  is  encouraged  by  considerations 
which  address  themselves  much  more  directly  to  the  person- 
al and  temporal  interests  of  a  speaker,  than  those  derived 
from  either  the  published  or  the  traditional  systems  of  moral 
ethics  which  prevail  in  society.  He  is  stimulated  to  the  rigid 
performance  of  this  duty  by  a  very  persuasive  appeal  which 
it  addresses  to  his  own  durable  comfort  and  acceptancy 
amongst  his  fellow  beings. 

It  is  not  an  act  which  will  be  likely  to  prove  exceedingly 
productive  of  benefits  to  a  speaker,  to  indulge  in  the  gross 
and  wanton  abuse  of  any  single  individual  when  delivering 
a  public  address.  For  he  will  thus  be  certain  to  produce  a 
jarring  string  in  the  composition  of  the  person  who  may  be 
touched  by  his  shot,  which  perhaps  may  never  be  composed 
during  the  life  of  the  wounded  party. 

But  the  act  of  wounding  the  feelings  of  an  entire  class  of 
men  is  attended  with  indefinitely  greater  disadvantages. 
For  these  bodies  of  men  when  compacted  together  by  the 
bonds  of  religion,  of  politics,  of  profession,  of  country,  of 
trade,  of  States,  or  of  counties,  will  be  competent  to  the 
work  of  inflicting  a  very  serious  annoyance,  both  in  their  in- 
dividual and  aggregate  character,  upon  an  individual  who 
may  thus  become  obnoxious  to  them. 


246  WOUNDING  CLASSES  OF  MEN. 

And  notwithstanding  many  integral  members  of  these 
bodies  may  be  hateful  to  each  other  in  their  individual  ca- 
pacity, yet  when  wounded  in  their  associate  character,  the 
sting  which  is  thiis  imparted,  will  arouse  them  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  cause  every  personal  interest  and  animosity  to 
merge  at  once  in  a  general  grievance,  and  will  band  them 
together  by  the  firmest  bonds  of  union  in  visiting  retribution 
upon  a  ruthless  invader  of  the  general  hive. 

If  a  speaker  in  the  course  of  an  address  should  take  occasion 
to  speak  contemptuously  of  any  denomination  of  Christians, 
of  any  nation  of  people,  of  any  party  in  politics,  of  any 
mechanical  occupation,  or  of  any  professional  pursuit,  he 
will  most  certainly  let  fly  a  shaft  which  will  pierce  to  the 
quick  the  sensibilities  of  the  mass  of  persons  which  may 
be  united  by  any  of  these  ties.  And  it  will  require  all  the 
soothing  appliances  which  the  offending  speaker  may  be  en- 
abled to  collect,  blended  with  a  long  application  of  the  leni- 
ent hand  of  time,  to  assuage  the  pangs  of  injury  which  are 
thus  conveyed. 

In  the  previous  strain  of  remarks  presented  in  this  chap- 
ter, reference  has  been  made  exclusively  to  wanton  and  un- 
justified assaults  upon  persons  in  their  aggregate  capacity- 
remarks  which  may  be  dictated  by  the  personal,  political,  or 
professional  spleen  of  the  speaker.  But  animosities  may  be 
infused  into  the  bosom  of  societies  of  men,  by  a  speaker  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties,  when  he  may  be  as  guiltless  of 
any  intention  to  communicate  pain,  or  to  give  offence,  as  a 
mouldering  tenant  of  the  tomb.  This  may  be  cff*ected  in 
the  discharge  either  of  political,  professional,  or  personal  du- 
ties, by  a  speaker.  He  may  animadvert  with  peculiar  as- 
perity and  bitterness  in  the  course  of  a  public  address,  upon 
a  particular  individual  for  the  exhibition  of  some  princi- 
ple, or  the  adoption  of  some  particular  practice  which  may 
be,  not  only  openly  ratified  by  the  opinion  of  some  sect  of 
Christians,  some  body  of  mechanics,  some  nation  of  people, 


WOUNDING  CLASSES  OF  MEN.  247 

or  some  party  in  politics,  but  which  has  also  been  enthusi- 
astically supported  and  daily  sanctified  by  the  practice  of 
that  party. 

The  offence  here  would  be  very  innocently  given,  but  the 
attack  upon  a  particular  principle  which  may  be  cherished 
by  any  particular  body  of  men,  will  be  recognized  as  a  cor- 
porate wrong,  and  will  send  a  vibration  of  revengeful  feeling 
through  the  whole  body,  which  will  be  acutely  felt  in  its  ex- 
tremest  and  remotest  nerves. 

A  wise  and  intelligent  speaker  may  be  enabled  to  conduct 
an  argument  or  address  with  a  degree  of  prudence  and  dis- 
cretion which  will  prevent  a  mass  of  persons  from  regarding 
the  denunciation  of  a  principle  in  its  individual  manifestation 
as  an  impeachment  of  the  entire  body.  A  speaker  blessed 
with  a  respectable  share  of  discrimination  and  address,  may 
preserve  his  personal  independence  in  the  perfection  of  its 
integrity,  in  discharging  his  duties,  without  imparting  offence 
even  by  implication  to  any  body  of  men  who  may  be  iden- 
tified with  the  obnoxious  principle  against  which  he  shall  be 
declaiming.  He  may  visit  the  fullest  reprehension  on  the 
individual  offence  which  may  comprehend  in  its  moral  com- 
position the  principle  which  is  cherished  by  any  particular 
class  of  men.  But  he  may  adopt  the  precaution,  at  the  same 
time,  to  reserve  the  body  itself  out  of  the  pale  of  the  general 
anathema.  It  would  appear,  on  a  superficial  contemplation 
of  the  matter,  to  be  an  impracticable  attempt  to  shield  the 
feelings  of  an  oppressive  dealer  in  money  from  injury,  where 
the  business  of  exacting  an  exorbitant  percentage  on  loans 
might  be  denounced,  and  it  would  seem  equally  difficult  to 
deliver  an  argument  which  would  waft  very  fragrant  incense 
to  the  senses  of  a  Mussulman,  that  would  present  an  explicit 
and  harsh  condemnation  of  the  principles  of  the  Koran.  But 
such  achievements  constantly  grace  the  political  and  profess- 
ional reputations  of  a  large  number  of  persons  who  ascend 
the   rostrum.      They  immolate  the   individual   depository 


248        A  RESORT  TO  GEOMETRICAL  DISCIPLINE. 

of  the  principle,  and  give  his  bones  to  the  dogs,  whilst  they 
burn  incense  in  a  supply  of  grateful  and  redundant  profu- 
sion, at  the  shrine  of  the  nation  or  the  party  to  which  he  be- 
longs. 


CHAPTER  LXXI. 

THE   ELEMENTS   OF   EUCLID  AND  THE   INTELLECTUAL   SYSTEM   OP  AEITHMETIC, 
CONSIDEEED    AS   PEELIMINAUY    AIDS   TO   THE    REASONING    FACULTIES. 

A  BRIEF  exposition  has  been  afforded,  in  another  portion 
of  these  commentaries,  of  those  exercises  which  may  be  judi- 
ciously adopted  by  a  speaker  or  writer,  for  the  discipline  of 
the  mental  faculties,  when  the  preparation  of  an  intellectual 
production  might  be  under  consideration.  And  in  extension 
of  the  suggestions  which  were  then  imparted  to  the  speaker 
or  pupil,  it  may  be  here  added,  that  fragments  of  wisdom, 
collated  from  the  best  sources  of  human  experience,  justify 
the  conviction  that  the  study  of  a  portion  of  Euclid's  Ele- 
ments, as  a  preliminary  measure  to  the  preparation  of  an 
argument  or  essay,  is  an  invaluable  auxiliary.  This  propo- 
sition is  based  upon  the  solemnly-declared  opinions  of  men 
of  the  most  exalted  professional  eminence  who  have  now 
passed  from  the  public  stage.* 

But  the  advantages  blended  with  an  habitual  resort  to 
the  discipline  afforded  by  Euclid,  are  attested  by  the  na- 
ture of  the  exercise  itself  Geometrical  science  has  been 
justly  pronounced  the  perfection  of  logic,  and  the  train 
of  reasoning  is  there  presented  in  a  state  of  such  pure  ab- 
straction from  all  extraneous  matter,  and  all  superfluous 
verbiage,  each  link  in  the  chain  of  geometrical  ratiocination 
is  so  perfectly  consecutive  in  its  character,  is  so  dependent 
on  precedent  links  and  propositions,  that  the  mind  of  a  rea- 
soner,  by  studying  one  of  these  propositions  closely,  previous 

*  Governor  Iredell  and  the  late  Gavins  Ho^  Esq.  of  North  Carolina. 


A  KESOET  TO   GEOMETKICAL  DISCIPLINE.        249 

to  the  investigation  of  any  abstruse  question  in  legal  or  polit- 
ical science,  is  prepared  for  the  work  of  searching  after  the 
pure  ore  of  truth.  The  mind  of  a  reasoner,  by  this  prelim- 
inary training,  is  narrowed  down  to  a  specific  point  in  an 
inquiry,  instead  of  rambling  over  the  indefinite  field  of  specu- 
lative reasoning.  It  has  a  measure  of  ballast  imparted  to  it, 
which  renders  it  firm  and  stable  in  its  operations,  instead  of 
being  inflated  with  that  passion  for  ethereal  soaring  which 
is  frequently  created  by  the  perusal  of  highly-imaginative 
authors. 

The  great  anchor  of  confidence  which  a  reasoning  mind 
eagerly  covets  when  approaching  the  investigation  of  any 
complex  and  important  question,  is  the  ability  to  tie  down 
the  faculties  to  some  specific  or  isolated  point,  and  to  retain 
them  there  until  the  light  of  truth  shall  beam  in  splendor 
upon  the  dark  and  chaotic  concave  which  is  shadowed  forth 
to  the  mental  contemplation  anterior  to  the  process  of  severe 
reflection.  This  potent  auxiliary  is  supplied  by  an  intense 
application  of  the  powers  of  thought  to  Euclid's  propositions. 

No  definite  amount  of  the  exercise  now  under  considera- 
tion has  ever  been  prescribed.  The  only  object  in  resorting 
to  this  discipline,  is  that  of  putting  the  faculties  in  tune  for 
reasoning  in  consecutive  order  or  in  continued  series.  And 
the  speaker  or  pupil  will  have  performed  this  duty  when  he 
shall  have  achieved  this  object,  whether  he  has  read  one 
proposition  in  Euclid  or  more. 

Another  invaluable  auxiliary  to  the  reflective  faculties,  is 
the  study  of  what  has  usually  been  denominated  the  intel- 
lectual system  of  arithmetic.  The  founder  and  original  in- 
troducer of  that  system,  we  believe,  was  Pestallozzi ;  and  it 
has  frequently  received  a  titular  appellation  correspondent 
with  the  name  of  its  author.  But  others  have  followed  in 
his  train,  and  have  presented  plans  of  mental  arithmetic  to 
the  world  which  have  been  simplified  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
square  with  the  accelerated  advances  of  the  age  in  the  march 

11* 


250        A  EESOET  TO  GEOMETRICAL  DISCIPLINE. 

of  improvement.  Colburn  prepared  a  work  of  the  kind, 
which  was  honored  with  a  large  share  of  acceptancy  at  the 
period  of  its  introduction.  And  the  process  of  rigid  thought 
which  was  cultivated  in  connection  with  the  study  of  that 
work,  may  he  regarded  as  an  inestimable  source  of  power 
to  a  reasoner.  For  in  perusing  a  chapter  in  that  work  which 
may  be  marked  by  any  complexity,  the  mental  faculties  are 
kept  on  what  may  be  termed  a  stretch,  until  every  sum 
or  proposition  in  the  chapter  shall  be  completely  solved  or 
worked  out  by  the  head,  without  an  appeal  either  to  the  hand 
or  the  pencil.  It  may  be  regarded  as  almost  impossible  for 
a  mind,  which  possesses  any  share  of  innate  power,  any  grasp 
of  thought,  to  devote  itself  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour  in- 
tensely to  the  perusal  of  intellectual  arithmetic,  without  find- 
ing the  reasoning  powers  perceptibly  strengthened  at  the 
close  of  the  labor. 

It  is  the  fact  of  dispensing  with  all  artificial  or  material 
props  to  the  mind  and  memory,  which  constitutes  the  spring 
of  efficacy  in  this  exercise.  It  is  like  compelling  a  traveller 
to  estimate  his  progress  in  a  journey,  by  a  vigilant  observa- 
tion of  the  native  features  of  the  country  through  which  he 
may  be  passing,  instead  of  falling  back  upon  the  assistance 
of  mile-marks.  And  when  the  mind  shall  be  thus  inducted 
into  a  logical  frame  or  spirit,  this  condition  of  mind  may  be 
transferred  and  appropriated  to  other  subjects  of  thought  en- 
tirely distinct  from  the  arithmetic ;  just  as  when  the  temper 
is  thrown  into  an  irascible  state  by  a  provocation  received 
from  one  person,  it  may  not  be  regarded  as  a  very  difficult 
operation  to  apply  the  feeling  of  irritation  thus  inspired  to 
other  individuals  who  may  cross  the  path  of  the  provoked 
party  at  the  time,  and  who  may  be  perfectly  guiltless  of  all 
offence  towards  him. 


THE  POWER  OF  PRODUCING  WIT.  251 


CHAPTER    LXXII. 

THE  PRACTICE  OF  OBSERVING  THE  MOST  BRILLIANT  PASSAGES  OF  "WIT  WHICH 
OCCUR  IN  AUTHORS,  AND  ALSO  THOSE  WHICH  ENLIVEN  DEBATE  AND  OON- 
VEESATION. 

The  proposition  has  a  prevalence  as  extensive  as  the  do- 
main of  letters,  that  the  principle  of  poetic  inspiration  is  a 
beneficent  Endowment  of  nature,  isolated  in  its  essence,  and 
having  bilf  few  affinities  with  any  other  distinguishing  quality 
of  the  mind  or  imagination.  The  same  theory  also  has  been 
so  habitually  applied  to  the  property  of  wit  by  a  large  pro- 
portion of  mankind,  as  to  receive  that  tacit  sort  of  acquies- 
cence which  is  yielded  to  an  axiom. 

With  the  origin  of  poetical  gifts  we  have  nothing  to  do  in 
this  connection,  but  we  feel  very  great  sincerity  in  express- 
ing an  entire  dissent  from  the  application  of  the  foregoing 
theory  to  the  principle  of  wit.  That  some  members  of  the 
family  of  man  may  be  more  favorably  organized  by  provi- 
dence for  the  felicitous  and  ample  display  of  this  quality  than 
others,  it  would  be  a  futile  attempt  to  deny.  Human  beings 
occupy  precisely  the  same  situation  in  regard  to  this  sub- 
ject, that  they  do  in  relation  to  all  the  other  faculties  and  func- 
tions which  pertain  to  the  organization  of  the  intellectual  sys- 
tem. One  person  may  display  an  unusual  facility  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  mathematical  science.  Another  may  exhibit 
more  promptness  in  the  apprehension  of  philosophical  veri- 
ties. Another  may  astonish  the  world  by  his  expertness  in 
translating  the  pages  of  recondite  literature.  Whilst  a  third 
appears  to  possess  no  organ  of  perception  for  the  beauties 
which  bloom  and  perfect  in  the  foregoing  fields  of  intellectual 
exploration,  but  gives  his  heart  in  the  plenitude  and  ferven- 
cy of  its  devotion,  to  the  province  of  mechanics.     But  that 


252  THE  POWER  OF  PRODUCING  WIT. 

either  of  these  fields  of  acquisition  is  hopelessly  barred  to  the 
entrance  of  those  candidates  for  intellectual  renown,  who  may 
exhibit  an  original  obtuseness  of  intellect  in  regard  to  the 
particular  subject  of  mental  speculation,  included  in  any  one 
field,  is  a  proposition  which  cannot  be  maintained.  By  the 
use  of  persevering  labor,  minds  of  the  most  unpromising 
early  developments  in  reference  to  some  particular  subjects, 
may  possibly  grasp  with  distinguishing  success  and  thrilling 
delight,  the  most  precious  treasures  which  are  attainable 
within  those  particular  tracts  of  thought. 

The  property  of  wit  may,  with  a  very  ample  measure  of 
justice,  be  included  within  the  range  of  the  proposition  af- 
firmed in  the  preceding  paragraph.  Persons  who  may  have 
never  exhibited  the  faintest  gleam  or  scintillation  to  attest 
its  presence  in  their  mental  composition,  by  yielding  a  heart- 
felt devotion  to  a  few  disciplinary  measures,  may  enrol 
their  names  amongst  the  most  formidable  wits  of  the 
period  in  which  they  live.  Some  of  those  orators  who 
have  instructed  and  charmed  the  world  by  the  splendid  fas- 
cinations of  their  eloquence,  were  once  almost  incurable 
sceptics  on  the  subject  of  their  possessing  in  their  intel- 
lectual organization  the  minutest  ingredient  of  eloquence, 
and  in  their  earliest  advent  on  the  public  stage  were  harshly 
repulsed  by  hissing  crowds,  in  consequence  of  their  appa- 
rently nonsensical  and  incoherent  babblings.  Many  of  those 
who  have  discoursed  the  divinest  melodies  to  enraptured  as- 
semblies, in  the  department  of  music,  were  actually  terrified 
at  the  grating  dissonance  and  discord  of  their  earliest  per- 
formances. 

If  a  student  should  be  desirous  of  registering  his  name 
amongst  the  wits  of  his  country,  he  will  be  infallibly  grati- 
fied in  having  his  aspirations  crowned  with  success  by  sub- 
mitting to  the  essential  expenditure  of  toil  and  pains. 

When  he  is  engaged  in  perusing  an  author  which  abounds 
in  striking  passages  of  wit,  let  him  note  each  passage  as  it 


THE   POWER  OF  PRODUCINa  WIT.  253 

presents  itself  to  his  mind,  and  having  dwelt  upon  it  for 
some  time,  let  him  survey  it  in  all  its  varied  bearings  and 
relations,  to  see  in  what  respect  it  might  be  improved ;  and 
if  the  witticism  has  been  perpetrated  at  the  expense  of  any- 
particular  individual,  let  him  see  what  reply  could  have 
been  aptly  made  to  it  by  the  individual  whose  feelings  may 
have  been  punctured  by  letting  it  off. 

But  the  most  successful  and  productive  manner  in  which 
the  attention  of  a  student  can  be  exercised  in  this  sphere  of 
discipline,  is  to  watch  the  progress  of  discussions  in  the  halls 
of  legislation,  in  the  courts  of  justice,  and  on  the  hustings, 
and  when  an  effective  witticism  or  pungent  retort  falls  from 
the  lips  of  any  speaker  in  his  hearing,  he  should  take  it  right 
up,  and  scan  it  in  his  mind,  with  the  view  of  satisfying  him- 
self as  to  the  most  appropriate  and  happy  replication  which 
might  have  been  given  to  it  by  the  person  upon,  whose  shoul- 
ders the  squib  has  descended. 

The  student  may  also  profit  in  this  sphere  of  mental  ex- 
ertion, by  observing  the  course  of  conversations  in  the  spright- 
ly and  cultivated  circles  of  life,  and  whenever  a  fragment  of 
spicy  repartee  or  a  well-timed  and  appropriate  retort,  or  a 
witty  expression,  drops  from  the  lips  of  any  one  present,  he 
should  subject  it  at  once  to  the  searching  operations  of  his 
mental  crucible,  with  the  desire  to  test  its  genuineness,  to  as- 
certain in  what  respect  the  particular  effusion  might  be  improv- 
ed, and  what  reply  might  have  been  effectively  given  to  it. 

Even  when  the  student  has  been  the  subject  of  a  witty  or 
cutting  remark  himself,  and  the  occasion  for  visiting  retri- 
bution on  the  author  of  the  witticism  has  passed  by  without 
any  retort  from  the  injured  party,  yet  he  may  nevertheless 
turn  this  failure  to  his  future  advantage,  in  taking  up  the  shot 
which  hit  him,  and  afler  having  examined  it  at  his  leisure ;  by 
settling  in  his  mind  the  most  suitable  reply  which  might 
have  been  given  to  it  at  the  time  the  squib  was  discharged. 

These  exercises,  though  silent  in  their  progress,  and  unob- 


254  QUESTIONS  TO   OPPOSiNG  DEBATERS. 

served  by  the  world,  train  the  human  mind  for  the  exhibition 
of  that  species  of  mental  adroitness  which  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  this  chapter,  as  infallibly  as  shooting  habitually  at  a 
mark  trains  the  hand  and  the  eye  of  a  practitioner  for  shoot- 
ing successfully  at  living  objects. 


CHAPTER    LXXIII. 

THE  EXPEDIENCY  OF  QUESTIONS  BEING  OCCASIONALLY  PaOPOUNDED  BY  A 
SPEAKER,  IN  THE  COURSE  OF  AN  ARGUMENT  OR  ADDRESS,  TO  OPPOSING 
DEBATERS,  OR  TO  PERSONS  SYMPATHIZING  WITH  SUCH  DEBATERS  IN 
OPINION. 

It  frequently  happens  that  questions  may  be  propounded 
with  a  singular  share  of  advantage  by  a  speaker,  whilst  pro- 
gressing in  the  delivery  of  an  argument,  to  an  opponent  in 
debate,  or  to  persons  sympathizing  with  that  opponent  in 
opinion  and  in  feeling. 

But  the  speaker,  previous  to  putting  a  question  of  this 
kind  to  an  opposing  party  of  any  description,  should  be  per- 
fectly convinced  that  the  interrogated  party  will  not  yield  an 
answer  adverse  to  the  propounder's  interests.  For  such  an 
answer  will  recoil  upon  his  person  with  all  the  stunning 
fatality  of  a  rebounding  shot. 

The  way  in  which  this  passage  of  policy  is  to  be  conduct- 
ed is  very  simple  in  its  character,  and  only  requires  the  ap- 
plication of  some  nice  observation  and  acute  sagacity  on  the 
part  of  a  debater  to  know  when  to  adopt  it.  In  politics  and 
in  law,  the  party  who  is  principally  interested  in  a  pending 
controversy  may  be  supposed  to  have  performed  some  act 
which,  in  the  event  of  its  being  known  to  the  world,  would 
exert  a  blasting  influence  on  the  prospective  interests  of  such 
party.     It  may  be  also  presumed,  without  at  all  straining 


QUESTIONS  TO  OPPOSING  DEBATEKS.  255 

the  belief  to  take  in  the  proposition,  that  the  parties  chiefly 
concerned  in  a  pending  political  or  legal  controversy  may  be 
possessed  of  some  information  which,  in  the  event  of  its  be- 
ing promulgated,  would  crush  their  hopes  of  success  in  the 
bud. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  define  the  mode  in  which  a  process  of 
this  description  should  be  conducted  by  an  advocate,  when 
managing  a  cause,  for  this  is  a  matter  of  daily  repetition  in 
court.  But  whilst  we  concede  to  debaters  on  other  fields  of 
discussion  as  large  and  enlightened  an  acquaintance  with  the 
matter  under  consideration  as  their  most  grasping  desires 
would  demand,  we  do  not  regard  that  as  a  superfluous  ex- 
penditure of  time  and  of  language  which  may  be  employed 
in  explaining  an  operation  which  may  be  productive  of  very 
conspicuous  and  enduring  advantages  to  the  young  and  inex- 
perienced in  debate. 

When  a  candidate  for  any  public  situation  shall  be  im- 
pressed with  the  conviction  that  an  opponent  has  been  con- 
nected with  some  public  enterprise,  measure,  or  principle 
which  is  exceedingly  obnoxious  to  the  public  taste  and  fancy, 
as  he  progresses  in  his  argument,  when  he  reaches  an  eligible 
point  for  doing  so,  he  has  only  to  propound  the  question  to 
his  opponent,  whether  or  not  he  has  ever  been  a  supporter 
of  such  measure,  enterprise,  or  principle,  or  whether  he  has 
been  openly  or  covertly  interested  in  or  identified  with  it. 
This  question  may  be  presented  with  all  that  placidity,  good 
humor,  and  grace  which  marks  the  intercourse  of  the  most 
elegant  and  courtly  persons  in  the  social  exchanges  of  life. 

If  in  a  question  of  the  kind  supposed,  the  opposing  candi- 
date should  answer  in  the  affirmative,  when  charged  with 
some  act  or  identity  which  may  be  considered  a  digression 
from  the  path  of  sound  political  principles  or  pure  morals, 
then,  of  course,  the  interrogator  has  secured  his  object,  in 
casting  an  effectual  blight  on  the  interests  of  his  opponent. 
If  the  question  propounded  should  convey  the  charge  of  a 


256  QUESTIONS  TO  OPPOSING  DEBATERS. 

dereliction  of  duty  or  nonfeasance,  in  not  giving  support  to 
some  wholesome  and  just  enterprise  or  measure,  of  course 
if  the  interrogated  candidate  or  member  admits  that  he  did 
not  yield  to  the  measure  or  enterprise  in  question  his  support, 
the  answer  may  be  fatal  to  his  prospects,  if  the  matter  con- 
cerning which  the  interrogatory  was  propounded  was  itself  a 
thing  of  any  intrinsic  importance,  and  concerning  which  the 
public  feelings  were  greatly  enlisted. 

But  the  benefit  usually  sought  in  propounding  questions  to 
opponents,  either  in  deliberative  bodies  or  in  discussions  be- 
fore popular  assemblies,  does  not  consist  in  extracting  sub- 
stantial and  responsive  answers  from  opposing  candidates  or 
their  friends,  which  will  exert  a  deadly  influence  over  their 
interests.  The  object  sought  is  not  so  much  a  specific  answer 
of  any  sort,  but  to  get  them  to  floundering  and  fluttering  to 
avoid  coming  to  the  point,  or  to  sit  with  sealed  lips  under 
the  interrogatory. 

If  a  question  shall  be  propounded  in  a  deliberative  assem- 
bly to  the  advocate  of  some  measure  before  that  body,  which 
conveys  the  charge  of  having  been  implicated  in  some  other 
measure  or  identified  with  some  particular  principle  which 
may  be  exceedingly  odious  to  the  Legislature  or  to  the  peo- 
ple, or  to  both,  then,  if  the  interrogated  member  should  yield 
no  answer,  it  may  be  assumed  to  be  a  confession  of  the  charge 
conveyed ;  and  if  he  should  flounder,  and  wince,  and  yield  a 
very  incoherent  answer,  it  will  injure  his  cause  to  a  still 
greater  extent. 

There  are  two  principles  at  work,  in  a  case  of  this  sort,  to 
render  these  interrogatories  in  a  high  degree  operative  for 
the  production  of  injury  to  the  person  to  whom  the  interrog- 
atories may  be  propounded.  Whenever  a  question  shall  be 
propounded  by  a  dexterous  debater,  with  a  good  deal  of 
dramatic  skill  and  in  a  very  portentous  manner,  the  infor- 
mation which  is  sought  by  the  question  or  the  charge  which  it 
conveys,  contracts  a  fictitious  valuation  and  importance  from 


QUESTIONS  TO  OPPOSING  DEBATERS.  257 

the  way  in  which  it  is  frequently  propounded ;  for  an  audience 
will  suppose  that  the  question  would  not  be  put  if  it  should  not 
be  considered  by  the  debater  who  asks  the  question  a  matter 
6f  very  great  importance.  And  if  an  answer  is  totally  with- 
held, or  a  bungling  and  incoherent  one  given,  the  persons 
who  may  be  present  will  immediately  attach  additional 
importance  to  the  matter,  simply  because  the  information 
is  not  given.  And  in  addition  to  the  foregoing  inference, 
the  persons  who  compose  an  assembly  where  a  scene  like 
that  just  mentioned  occurs,  take  a  refusal  to  answer,  or  an 
imperfect  answer,  equivalent  to  a  confession — for  why,  say 
they,  does  the  man  refuse  to  answer  if  he  be  not  guilty  ? 

The  expediency  of  asking  questions  to  an  opponent  in  de- 
bate, is  based  upon  the  same  species  of  policy  precisely, 
which  dictates  the  act  of  pressing  questions  upon  a  witness, 
which  the  attorney  propounding  the  questions  well  knows, 
anterior  to  asking  them,  that  the  witness  will  refuse  to  an- 
swer. It  matters  but  little,  as  far  as  the  cause  of  the 
attorney  propounding  the  question  is  involved,  whether  a 
witness  thus  refusing  to  answer,  is  restrained  from  giving  an 
answer  by  a  tacit  knowledge  on  his  part,  that  a  truthful  an- 
swer will  be  fatal  to  the  party  to  whose  success  he  may  be 
devoted,  or  whether  he  is  prevented  from  giving  an  answer 
by  the  interposition  of  the  Court,  which  may  instruct  him 
not  to  yield  an  answer,  on  the  ground  of  personal  privilege, 
or  because  an  answer  might  injuriously  affect  his  own  per- 
sonal interests.  The  proper  object  of  inquiry  in  regard  to 
the  matter,  with  every  one  who  may  be  desirous  to  ana- 
lyze the  moral  ingredients  comprehended  in  the  act  of  keep- 
ing in  reserve  any  information  which  may  be  sought,  is  to 
this  effect ;  Why  should  the  party  refuse  to  answer  the  ques- 
tion propounded,  unless  he  is  aware  that  a  just  and  true  an- 
swer will  be  fatal  to  the  interests  of  his  friend,  or  fatal  to  his 
own  character "?     Under  such  circumstances,  a  refusal  to  an- 


258  QUESTIONS  TO  OPPOSING  DEBATERS. 

swer  is  equivalent  to  an  answer  favorable  to  the  interests  of 
the  party  asking  the  question. 

The  same  unfavorable  inference  attaches  directly  to  a  re- 
spondent in  equity,  who  refuses  to  answer  a  question  which 
is  propounded  to  him  in  a  bill  of  complaint,  because  it  is  be- 
lieved that  he  would  have  no  objection  to  answering  an  in- 
terrogatory respectfully  propounded,  and  which  suggested 
no  species  of  criminality  on  the  part  of  the  respondent,  un- 
less he  knew  that  a  true  response  to  the  question  would  ex- 
ert a  blasting  influence  over  his  own  interests. 

This  is  the  object  sought  when  a  skilful  debater,  either  in 
a  deliberative  assembly,  or  in  a  popular  meeting,  or  on  the 
hustings,. propounds  a  question  to  an  opponent,  or  one  sym- 
pathizing with  that  opponent.  The  speaker  asking  the  ques- 
tion may  not  entertain  the  faintest  expectation  of  receiving 
an  answer.  But  he.  asks  the  question  with  the.Tiew  of  put- 
ting his  adversary  to  some  extent  in  a  suspicious  attitude. 
And  notwithstanding  the  specific  question  propounded  may 
not  of  itself,  and  independent  of  assisting  circumstances, 
come  with  a  crushing  degree  of  weight  on  the  interests  of 
the  party  interrogated,  in  any  aspect  of  the  case.  Yet,  as  a 
combination  of  very  minute  circumstances  of  a  suspicious 
character,  may  exert  a  blighting  influence  over  the  interests  of 
a  party,  in  a  case  where  one  isolated  fact  might  effect  nothing, 
an  expert  debater  in  politics  may  regard  it  as  the  supreme 
point  of  wisdom  and  policy  to  crush  an  adversary  by  caus- 
ing an  avalanche  of  minute  particles  of  odium  to  descend 
upon  his  person,  when  each  of  the  facts  or  particles  in  the 
combination,  taken  separately,  would  be  as  light  and  harm- 
less as  the  dew-drop  which  descends  on  the  mountain  sum- 
mit. 


APPEARING  TOO  OFTEN  IN  DEBATE.  259 


CHAPTER   LXXIV. 

IT  -WILL    PROVE  AN   INJUDICIOUS    COURSE,   IN  ANY  MEMBER   OF  A  DELIBER- 
ATIVE  ASSEMBLY,    TO   PARTICIPATE   IN   DEBATE   WITH    UNDUE   FREQUENCY. 

Man  is  so  constituted  by  nature  that  his  taste  becomes 
immediately  revolted  whenever  the  supply  of  any  object  of 
gratification  passes  beyond  the  limit  of  the  natural  demands 
of  his  appetite.  Even  the  most  delicious  and  captivating 
strains  of  music,  when  presented  to  the  ear  day  after  day  in 
long  succession,  under  the  modification  of  one  isolated  tune, 
will  at  length  fatigue  the  patience  of  the  hearer.  It  is  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  define  the  exact  boundary  at  which  suf- 
ficiency becomes  complete  and  satiety  commences.  But  the 
principle  is  as  broadly  revealed  in  humanity  as  the  faculty 
of  reason  itself,  that  interest  and  inclination  lag  when  any 
indulgence  shared  by  the  senses  passes  beyond  the  limit  of 
sufficiency. 

In  no  exhibition  or  recreation  which  is  tributary  to  the 
rational  enjoyment  of  man,  does  this  principle  assert  its  pres- 
ence more  visibly  than  in  connection  with  an  undue  frequency 
of  participation  in  debate  by  any  particular  individual.  A 
voice  of  eloquence,  which  may  touch  the  feelings  of  a  delib- 
erative assembly  at  its  opening  scenes,  similar  to  a  wand  of 
magic,  will,  when  frequently  sounded  in  its  hearing,  fall  not 
only  in  futile  and  unheeded  strains  to  the  earth,  but  will  also, 
in  the  course  of  time,  if  unduly  pressed  upon  the  attention 
of  any  body  of  men,  assume  the  grating  harshness  of  the 
screech  of  some  bird  of  ill-omen. 

The  most  profound  and  varied  attainments,  the  most  en- 
lightened and  comprehensive  experience,  the  most  insinuating 
blandishments  of  manner,  the  most  matchless  sweetness  of 
tone  in  utterance,  and  the  most  lovely  and  immaculate  purity 


260     APPEAEING  TOO  OFTEN  IN  DEBATE. 

of  life,  all  united  in  the  person  of  one  particular  speaker,  will 
not  secure  a  grateful  reception  for  his  remarks  when  he  shall 
have  already  appeared  with  a  proverbial  degree  of  frequency 
on  the  floor  of  a  deliberative  assembly. 

The  speaker  himself  will  usually  have  his  perceptive  facul- 
ties so  completely  obscured  by  the  measure  of  homage  which 
was  paid  to  his  earliest  efforts  by  his  hearers,  as  not  to  ob- 
serve the  dawning  symptoms  of  their  disinclination  to  hear 
him  when  he  rises.  But  his  disinterested  fellow-members 
will  notice  the  budding  evidences  of  discontent  and  impa- 
tience excited  by  the  sound  of  his  voice  when  thrust  upon  the 
house  with  undue  frequency,  with  as  much  certainty  as  a  prac- 
ticed physician  will  detect  an  eruption  which  may  be  thrown 
out  upon  the  surface  of  the  skin  by  any  familiar  disease. 

The  first"  indications  of  the  declining  acceptancy  of  any 
particular  speaker  which  will  present  themselves  to  the  view 
of  intelligent  observation,  may  be  recognized  when  he  arises 
to  speak,  in  the  scarcely  audible  buzz,  shuffling,  and  restless- 
ness which  will  seem  to  pervade  the  entire  body  of  which  he 
is  a  member.  This  is  merely  in  the  green  tree  of  his  decay; 
when  the  leaves  of  his  popularity  assume  a  sere  and  yellow 
hue,  the  members  will  begin  to  abandon  their  seats  in  groups, 
and  when  the  dry  leaf  of  his  decline  makes  its  appearance, 
his  advocacy  of  any  measure  will  prove  as  fatal  to  its  pros- 
pects as  the  poison  of  the  asp  to  animal  life. 

This  repugnance  to  hearing  any  one  speaker  with  unusual 
frequency,  is  founded  upon  two  principles  which  are  very 
broadly  and  palpably  interwoven  with  the  nature  of  man. 
The  first  is  the  disposition  to  revolt  at  an  over-expanded  sup- 
ply of  any  earthly  gratification  which  may  be  ministered  to 
the  taste ;  and  the  second  is  that  almost  universal  distaste 
which  is  inspired  by  the  disclosure  of  a  disposition  in  any 
person  to  grasp  a  lion's  share  of  any  privilege,  benefit,  or 
emolument,  in  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  which  others  are 
entitled  to  an  equal  dividend  with  himself. 


APPEAEING  TOO  OFTEN  IN  DEBATE.     261 

And  whilst  even  a  patriarchal  sanctity  and  weight  of  char- 
acter will  rarely  secure  to  a  legislator  a  gratifying  possession 
of  the  floor,  when  he  has  occupied  it  with  inappropriate  fre- 
quency already,  it  may  safely  be  alleged  that  those  who  are 
regarded  as  the  plainer  members  of  a  deliberative  assembly 
usually  conceive  that  they  can  pay  no  higher  compliment  to 
a  fellow  member  than  to  say  of  him,  "  that  he  never  speaks 
except  when  his  business  calls  him  to  do  so."  And  it  is 
equally  certain  that  the  member  of  any  business  assembly 
cannot  select  a  path  which  leads  with  more  infallible  certain- 
ty to  the  hearts  of  his  associates,  than  a  sparing  use  of  the 
privileges  of  debate. 

It  may  so  happen  in  the  course  of  legislative  service,  that 
a  member  may  be  summoned  from  some  peculiar  position 
he  holds  to  address  the  house  with  uncommon  frequency. 
He  may  occupy  the  post  of  Chairman  to  some  committee 
to  whose  care  and  management  a  large  portion  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  house  may  be  confided.  In  this  connection,  it 
may  necessarily  devolve  upon  him  to  explain  and  defend  the 
action  of  his  committee  on  particular  subjects.  But  he 
should  take  especial  pains  to  perform  this  duty  in  few  words 
and  in  a  business-like  manner. 

It  may  be  regarded  as  an  almost  impracticable  task  to 
specify  the  number  of  times  in  which  a  member  may  be  in- 
dulged in  appearing  upon  the  floor,  when  no  special  obliga- 
tion may  render  it  obligatory  upon  him  to  participate  in  the 
discussions  of  the  house.  On  this  subject  a  speaker  must 
himself  exert  a  large  share  of  wise  discretion.  It  may  be 
suggested,  however,  that  three  regular  set  speeches  is  about 
the  maximum  of  a  member's  privilege  during  any  one  ses- 
sion. He  may  at  the  same  time  properly  indulge  in  pointed 
suggestions,  and  in  brief  discussions  on  points  of  order  and 
of  business. 


262         PKEPAEATION  FOR  DEBATE. 


CHAPTER    LXXV. 

THE  IMPOETANCE  OF  MAKING  AMPLE  PREPARATION  FOR  THE  DISCUSSION  OF 
ANY  QUESTION  LONG  PREVIOUS  TO  THE  PERIOD  AT  WHICH  IT  18  TO  BE 
DISPOSED   OF. 

A  STATESMAN  who  once  constituted  one  of  the  brightest 
political  stars  that  ever  shone  in  the  firmament  of  Amer- 
ica, being  asked  by  a  friend  how  he  managed  to  be  so  per- 
fectly at  home  on  every  measure  which  was  debated  in  Con- 
gress, replied,  "  because  I  universally  make  it  a  duty  of  in- 
dispensable obligation,  to  inform  myself  thoroughly  concern- 
ing every  measure  of  the  slightest  importance,  which  has  the 
least  complexity  about  it,  on  which  I  shall  be  called  to  vote." 
The  adoption  and  faithful  observance  of  the  foregoing  rule 
of  practice,  would  light  up  in  the  varied  counsels  of  this 
country  many  resplendent  luminaries  which,  from  a  tame 
surrender  to  the  charms  of  indolent  repose,  may  never  cast 
even  a  twinkling  beam  on  the  sphere  of  the  public  service. 

A  large  proportion  of  those  who  are  chosen  to  fill  seats  in 
the  legislative  assemblies  of  the  United  States,  are  perfectly 
content  to  give  their  judgments  and  their  consciences  in 
charge  to  associates  in  counsel,  whom  they  may  esteem  to 
be  more  experienced,  enlightened,  or  industrious  than  them- 
selves. They  depute  others  to  think  for  them,  in  deciding 
on  the  course  they  shall  pursue  in  voting  on  any  measure 
of  a  dubious  character,  that  may  be  pending  in  the  body  to 
which  they  belong. 

They  can  peruse  with  patient  industry  and  attention  the 
most  ponderous  volumes  of  history,  which  shed  light  upon 
the  manners,  customs,  and  policy  of  nations  which  lived  and 
flourished  in  the  night  of  past  ages,  but  they  are  unable  to 
yield  a  few  transient  moments  to  the  consideration  of  ineas- 


PEEPAEATION  FOR  DEBATE.        263 

ures  which  -are  closely  associated  with  the  glory  and  pros- 
perity of  their  own  country.  They  can  devour  with  ecstatic 
sensations  of  delight  mountains  in  the  shape  of  fiction,  which 
are  as  light  as  the  foam  which  floats  upon  the  surface  of 
the  waters,  but  they  do  not  in  many  instances  possess  the 
industry  and  research  to  devote  a  few  hours  daily  to  the  in- 
vestigation of  authors,  an  acquaintance  with  which  might  en- 
rol them  amongst  the  brightest  benefactors  of  their  country, 
and  which  would  probably  light  up  the  pathway  which  would 
conduct  them  to  a  height  of  imperishable  glory. 

Every  member  of  a  deliberative  assembly,  who  may 
not  possess  the  insensibility  of  a  stone  to  what  is  passing 
around  him,  must  necessarily  be  apprized  of  the  measures 
which  will  naturally  be  disposed  of  during  the  term  for 
which  he  shall  be  elected.  And  it  will  cost  him  but  a  small 
expenditure  of  labor  to  devote  an  interval  of  meditation  daily 
to  measures  of  the  most  critical  importance,  on  which  it  will 
be  his  duty  to  vote,  and  to  note  down  in  a  commonplace 
book,  separately  and  distinctly,  the  result  of  his  reflections 
on  each.  He  should  carefully  read  the  authors  within  his 
reach,  or  those  portions  of  them  which  may  apply  in  a  spe- 
cial manner  to  the  m.easures  on  which  he  is  to  act  in  future ; 
and  he  should  be  careful  to  classify  and  arrange  any  estab- 
lished principles  or  incontestable  authorities  he  may  collate 
from  the  authors  he  reads,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  correspond 
with  the  order  in  which  he  may  marshal  for  discussion  the 
different  branches  or  divisions  of  the  subjects  on  which  he 
shall  either  speak  or  vote.  He  should  make  it  his  business 
to  ascertain  the  assailable  points  of  a  measure  as  well  as 
those  which  are  indisputably  valid  and  tenable,  and  should 
provide  himself,  where  he  is  favorable  to  any  particular 
measure,  with  resources  of  defence  which  will  enable  him  to 
repel  with  efficiency  the  thrusts  which  may  be  made  at  the 
vulnerable  parts  of  his  argument  by  an  opposing  member. 
By  adopting  the  course  here  suggested,  a  speaker  may  ren- 


264  SPEAKING  FOR  THE  GALLERIES. 

der  services  of  durable  importance  to  his  country.  He  will 
store  his  intellectual  treasury  with  information  of  incalcula- 
ble value,  and  he  may  earn  for  himself  a  reputation  which 
will  survive  the  granite  walls  which  may  reverberate  with 
the  sound  of  his  voice. 


CHAPTER    LXXVl. 

A  LEGISLATOR  SHOULD  NEVER  PARTICIPATE  IN  DEBATE  EXCLUSIVELY  FOR 
THE  APPLAUSE  OF  THE  GALLERY. 

When  it  shall  once  become  evident  to  the  world  that  any 
member  of  a  legislative  assembly  is  induced  to  participate 
in  debate  merely  to  earn  the  applause  of  the  gallery,  no  mat- 
ter how  potent  the  fascinations  of  his  eloquence  may  be,  this 
discovery  at  once  impairs  his  influence  as  a  legislator,  and 
imparts  a  tinge  of  levity  and  frivolity  to  his  reputation  as  a 
public  man.  He  stands  revealed  to  the  public  eye  with  the 
same  badges  of  imputed  vanity  clinging  to  his  character, 
which  cluster  upon  the  person  of  a  city  belle  who  perpetually 
glitters  in  jewels  and  silks  to  attract  the  admiring  gaze  of 
the  thoughtless  thousands  that  throng  the  most  frequented 
thoroughfares  of  a  large  commercial  emporium.  As  the 
fragrant  incense  of  that  admiration  which  is  inspired  by  the 
belle,  as  she  passes  along  the  streets  arrayed  in  the  splendors 
of  oriental  life,  is  wafted  to  her  senses,  blended  with  a  large 
admixture  of  ridicule  and  sneer,  so  the  trumpet  which  sounds 
to  the  world  the  praises  of  the  gallery-worshipping  orator, 
uniformly  sends  abroad  a  mingled  strain  of  applause  and 
contempt. 

When  any  member  of  human  society,  it  matters  not 
what  his  vocation  may  be,  inscribes  upon  his  daily  walk  of 
life  in  characters  as  legible  as  if  it  was  written  in  sunbeams, 


SPEAKING  FOR  THE   GALLERIES.  265 

a  fervid  aspiration  to  popular  admiration,  the  soothing  ap- 
pliance will  be  administered  in  frugal  supplies  as  certainly 
as  the  light  of  parting  day  is  succeeded  by  the  shadows  of 
twilight.  And  even  when  the  sparing  contribution  is  ren- 
dered, it  almost  invariably  comes  scented  by  some  ingre- 
dient which  renders  it  nauseating  to  the  taste  of  the  recipient. 
There  seems  to  be  an  inherent  propensity  in  the  human  race, 
to  withhold  golden  opinions  from  those  who  obviously  covet 
them  with  a  spirit  of  impassioned  devotion.  The  more  espe- 
cially is  mankind  disposed  to  deny  the  gilded  lure  to  those 
who  are  willing  to  convert  the  gravest  duties  of  life  into  in- 
struments of  service  to  their  own  childish  personal  vanity. 

The  contrast  which  is  presented  between  the  usual  de- 
meanor of  a  sensible  and  discreet  legislator,  and  that  of  the 
gallery-worshipping  orator,  is  too  glaring  to  have  eluded  the 
observation  of  any  sagacious  and  attentive  observer  of  de- 
liberative assemblies.  The  former,  when  about  to  partici- 
pate in  the  discussions  of  the  house,  glides  into  the  perform- 
ance of  the  duty  as  quietly  and  as  free  from  observation,  as 
it  may  be  practicable  for  him  to  do.  The  latter,  when  about 
to  deliver  a  speech,  sits  as  restlessly  on  his  seat  as  a  nervous 
culprit  in  the  criminal's  dock.  He  at  one  time  adjusts  his 
cravat,  at  another  he  trails  his  fingers  through  his  hair,  he 
paces  the  aisles  of  the  house  with  as  much  vivid  concern 
painted  upon  his  countenance  and  manner  as  if  some  mighty 
and  crushing  calamity  was  suspended  over  his  head.  His 
eyes  are  directed  first  to  the  gallery  and  then  to  the  floor,  to 
ascertain  whether  there  be  a  fair  prospect  of  having  a  bril- 
liant array  of  visitors  to  grace  the  advent  of  his  coming 
speech ;  and  when  the  hour  arrives  for  the  assumption  of  his 
place  on  the  floor,  the  chances  greatly  preponderate  in  favor 
of  his  proposing  a  motion  to  the  house  to  postpone  the  de- 
bate until  a  future  day,  if  the  gallery  does  not  present  to  his 
view  a  blazing  front  of  the  most  fascinating  beauties  of  the 
city.     If  such  a  speaker  should  discourse  with  the  ravishing 

12 


266  SEEENITY  ON  EXCITING  OCCASIONS. 

eloquence  of  a  seraph,  he  might  engross  a  munificent  harvest 
of  the  world's  admiration,  but  he  never  could  engage  a  large 
portion  of  its  enduring  and  solid  esteem,  he  never  could 
secure  for  his  name  and  reputation  a  welcome  and  fond 
abode  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen. 


CHAPTER    LXXVII. 

THE  GREAT  ADVANTAGE  TO  A  SPEAKER  OF  PRESERVING  A  PERFECT  DEGREE 
OF  SERENITY  AND  COOLNESS  "WHEN  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  WHICH  HE  IS  A 
MEMBER  MAY  BE  THROWN  INTO  A  STATE  OF  EXCITEMENT,  TUMULT,  AND 
CONFUSION. 

The  speaker  who  is  adequate  to  the  preservation  of  un- 
mingled  serenity  and  composure,  in  the  act  of  addressing  an 
assembly  which  is  itself  thrown  into  a  state  of  tumult  by 
heat  and  excitement,  considered  in  the  light  of  a  broad  and 
attractive  mark  to  public  admiration,  stands  next  in  rank  to 
a  soldier  who,  with  the  most  undisturbed  calmness,  performs 
prodigies  of  valor  amidst  the  din,  smoke,  and  carnage  of  the 
battle-field. 

And  in  proportion  as  those  who  recognize  this  coolness  in 
a  speaker,  may  be  overcome  on  such  occasions  by  a  nervous 
sensibility  themselves,  in  the  same  proportion  will  their  ad- 
miration of  his  self-possession  glow  with  intensity.  For  it 
is  not  the  natural  course  of  things,  when  a  multitudinous 
body  of  men  is  agitated  and  torn  by  a  conflict  of  the  fierce 
and  impetuous  passions,  for  any  portion  of  those  united  with 
it  by  the  bonds  of  duty,  or  who  are  observing  its  proceedings 
from  the  pure  impulses  of  curiosity,  to  remain  like  statues, 
completely  impervious  to  the  surrounding  heat. 

A  display  of  coolness  in  one  who  may  be  speaking,  when 
the  body  which  he  is  addressing  is  itself  calm  as  a  summer's 


SEEENTTY  ON  EXCITING  OCCASIONS.  267 

evening,  does  not  attract  much  observation  or  inure  percept- 
ibly to  the  advantage  of  a  debater.  For  it  is  a  spectacle  of 
daily  occurrence,  to  witness  self-possession  when  there  is  no 
supervening  cause  to  disturb  it.  It  is  the  self  control  which 
enables  a  speaker  to  maintain  the  equal  balance  of  his  feel- 
ings under  the  stern  pressure  of  surrounding  elements  of  com- 
motion, which  supplies  the  food  for  public  admiration.  For 
the  world  is  certain  to  imagine  that  there  is  some  inherent 
property  of  excellence  in  the  composition  of  such  speakers, 
which  renders  them  vastly  superior  to  the  bulk  of  mankind. 

The  influence  exerted  by  this  coolness  commands  a  higher 
class  of  benefits,  however,  than  that  of  causing  the  esteem 
and  respect  of  the  world  to  centre  upon  the  person  of  a  col- 
lected speaker.  It  frequently  lulls  the  waves  of  commotion 
into  a  quiet  state  of  repose  in  emergencies  of  incalculable 
interest  to  the  country.  For  the  voice  of  a  debater  of  this 
description  strikes  an  assembly  tossed  by  the  billows  of  pas- 
sion, with  a  force  which  may  at  times  be  entirely  dispropor- 
tioned  to  the  intrinsic  value  of  what  he  utters  in  the  way  of 
instruction  and  argument.  The  most  commonplace  truths 
delivered  to  an  excited  assembly  with  a  degree  of  imposing 
coolness,  will  descend  upon  its  ear  with  the  gravity  and 
weight  of  the  sagest  counsels  of  wisdom,  if  the  speaker  him- 
self should  possess  an  ordinary  share  of  respectability. 

Such  exhibitions  of  coolness  reflect  still  greater  lustre  upon 
the  reputation  of  a  speaker,  when  he  maintains  his  equilibrium 
under  the  pressure  of  an  assault  made  upon  him  in  debate, 
which  may  be  marked  by  a  singular  degree  of  asperity  and 
personal  bitterness.  The  world  regards  a  calm  and  collected 
manner  in  replying  to  assaults  of  a  fierce  and  pungent  char- 
acter, as  nearly  allied  to  heroism. 

The  speaker,  too,  who  disciplines  his  feelings  in  such  a  way 
as  uniformly  to  sustain  this  admirable  degree  of  coolness  on 
exciting  occasions,  will  not  only  possess  the  advantage  of  ap- 
oearing  to  be  cool,  but  what  is  preferable  to  appearances,  he 


268  SERENITY  ON  EXCITING  OCCASIONS. 

will  be  actually  and  intrinsically  as  he  seems  to  be.  And 
his  entire  freedom  from  heat  and  excitement  will  enable  him 
to  survey  minutely  the  whole  surface  of  the  ground  of  de- 
bate which  is  spread  before  him.  He  will  thus  be  competent 
to  impart  judicious  counsel  to  the  house  of  which  he  is  a  mem- 
ber, at  points  which  the  body  itself  may  have  entirely  over- 
looked, from  the  intensity  of  its  heat.  He  will  also  perceive 
with  perfect  clearness  the  vulnerable  points  which  have  been 
assumed  in  debate  by  speakers  opposed  to  his  views  of  the 
subject  under  discussion,  and  he  may  descend  upon  them  if 
he  possesses  even  an  ordinary  share  of  intellectual  power, 
with  the  irresistible  power  of  an  avalanche. 

The  question  may  be  propounded,  "  is  this  self-possession 
attainable  by  men  of  an  unusual  degree  of  nervous  irrita- 
bility 1"  There  is  nothing  more  certain  than  that  it  is  at- 
tainable by  every  human  being  who  possesses  the  share  of 
reason  and  mental  power  which  has  been  appropriated  to  the 
great  mass  of  mankind.  Persons  who  were  constitutionally 
cowards  of  the  most  hopeless  stamp,  have  been  converted 
into  heroes  at  times  by  the  effect  of  discipline  accidentally 
thrown  upon  them,  and  at  others,  by  a  determined  resolution 
on  their  part,  to  encounter  with  firmness  every  peril  and 
emergency  which  might  cross  their  pathway  in  the  journey 
of  life.  It  may  be  regarded  as  a  far  more  practicable  at- 
tempt to  brace  a  person's  nerves  to  meet  in  a  collected  man- 
ner heat  and  excitement  which  produce  showers  of  words, 
than  to  replenish  a  deficient  supply  of  courage  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  be  enabled  to  face  enemies  in  battle,  whose  wrath 
rains  bomb-shells  and  bullets.  There  is  one  encouraging  cir- 
cumstance which  should  stimulate  every  speaker  of  peculiar 
nervous  sensibilities  to  make  an  effort  to  overcome  his  con- 
stitutional tendencies  in  this  respect,  and  this  is,  that  no 
speaker  has  ever  been  mortified  by  a  failure,  in  an  enterprise 
of  the  kind,  who  has  perseveringly  endeavored  to  acquire 
coolness  and  self  possession  in  debate. 


THE  MOST  APPEOVED  AUTHOES.  269 


CHAPTEE    LXXVIII. 

THE    AUTHOES    WHICH    A    SPEAKER     SHOULD    HABITUALLY     EEAD   WITH   THE 
VIEW   OF   IMPROVING    HIS    DICTION   IN   SPEAKING. 

It  may  constitute  the  perfection  of  wisdom  and  discretion 
on  the  part  of  a  student  in  elocution,  to  yield  his  fervid  de- 
votions, both  by  day  and  by  night,  to  authors  which  are  ut- 
terly foreign  to  the  profession  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
when  the  object  he  seeks  is  that  of  becoming  thoroughly 
imbued  with  some  peculiar  excellencies  of  style  which  they 
contain. 

The  illustrious  Earl  of  Chatham,  with  the  fervent  and  self 
devoting  spirit  of  a  votary  at  some  saintly  shrine,  yielded 
his  devotions  to  the  sermons  of  Doctor  Isaac  Barrow,  be- 
cause they  abounded  in  words  distinguished  for  their  electric 
strength  and  energy.  Whether  the  great  Colossus  of  British 
eloquence  derived  his  magic  powers  in  debate  from  the  rev- 
erential homage  which  he  paid  to  this  author  or  not,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  distanced  all  other  men  who  flourished  in  his 
era,  in  the  matchless  felicity,  fervor,  and  force  of  his  lan- 
guage. 

The  voice  of  tradition  has  conveyed  to  times  more  recent 
than  those  in  which  he  figured  upon  the  stage,  that  Lord 
Mansfield  was  a  warm  admirer  of  the  writings  of  Chilling- 
worth,  from  the  acute  and  methodical  system  of  logic  which 
they  presented,  and  that  he  enjoined  the  reading  of  that 
work  most  earnestly  on  all  beginners  in  the  legal  profession, 
concerning  whose  interest  he  cherished  any  spirited  share  of 
concern. 

The  advice  has  been  given  by  Doctor  Samuel  Johnson, 
who  was  generally  revered  as  the  brightest  ornament  which 
adorned  the  literature  of  England  in  the  eighteenth  century, 


270  THE  MOST  APPROVED  AUTHORS. 

"  that  a  person  who  might  be  anxious  to  acquire  an  easy  and 
flowing  style  in  writing,  should  yield  his  days  and  nights  to 
the  pages  of  the  Spectator." 

That  eminent  expounder  of  the  Gospel,  Doctor  Chalmers, 
from  the  lofty  strain  of  panegyric  on  the  writings  of  Edmund 
Burke  with  which  his  prolific  pen  continually  teemed,  blend- 
ed with  the  vivid  resemblance  which  is  presented  in  his  own 
writings  to  the  philosophic  productions  of  the  great  Com- 
moner, both  in  solidity  and  gorgeousness,  must  have  given 
no  stinted  share  of  his  time  and  attention  to  the  pages  of 
that  engaging  ornament  of  British  eloquence  and  learning. 

There  are  conclusive  memorials  scattered  in  profusion 
over  the  bright  expanse  which  is  adorned  by  the  speeches  of 
Daniel  Webster,  to  attest  the  fact,  that  in  the  path  of  his 
literary  labors  and  researches,  he  drank  in  copiously  the 
spirit  of  Milton,  Dry  den,  and  Shakspeare. 

Whether  President  Jefterson  imbibed  from  a  frequent  pe- 
rusal of  the  works  of  Livy,  the  compendious  brevity  of  the 
speeches  which  he  acquired  the  reputation  of  having  made  in 
his  professional  and  public  career,  or  whether  it  was  the  na- 
tive tendency  of  his  intellect  and  taste  to  make  such  speeches, 
independent  of  any  impulse  derived  from  the  influence  of 
particular  authors,  the  proposition  is  undoubtedly  true,  that 
he  warmly  eulogized  the  speeches  of  Livy  as  appropriate 
models  for  debaters,  from  their  uncommon  briefness. 

John  C.  Calhoun  was  a  fervent  admirer  of  the  works  of 
that  great  light  of  Theology,  Jonathan  Edwards,  on  account 
of  the  extreme  severity  and  closeness  of  his  logic.  And 
there  is  a  traditional  report  abroad,  that  in  the  early  portion 
of  his  public  career,  he  made  these  works  his  pole  star  in 
the  style  of  debating. 

There  was  an  intellectual  star  which  shone  with  a  con- 
spicuous share  of  splendor  in  the  revolutionary  service  of 
America,  both  in  the  sphere  of  belligerent  strife,  and  in  the 
counsels  of  peaceful  deliberation,  which  is  reputed  to  have 


THE   MOST  APPROVED  AUTHORS.  271 

drawn  a  large  proportion  of  its  brightness  from  a  constant 
devotion  to  the  pages  of  Bolingbroke.  That  star  was  General 
William  K.  Davie,  and  his  own  flowing  and  lofty  style  in 
speaking,  gave  confirmation  to  the  rumor. 

There  was  another  ornament  of  the  revolution,  whose  tal- 
ents and  learning  reflected  an  attractive  measure  of  lustre 
upon  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  of  this  country,  and  who  was 
an  ardent  and  unceasing  votary  of  the  writings  of  Jonathan 
Swift.  And  the  remarkable  acumen,  point,  and  brevity  of 
his  own  style  as  a  debater,  shows  that  he  did  not  employ  his 
time  in  that  species  of  devotion,  without  the  production  of 
a  decided  and  visible  effect.* 

John  Randolph,  who  conclusively  showed  both  in  his 
speeches  and  writings,  that  he  was  as  thoroughly  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  the  English  classics  as  any  person  who  fig- 
ured on  the  political  stage  of  America  in  his  day,  expressed 
the  opinion  in  one  of  his  excursive  speeches,  once  delivered 
on  the  floor  of  Congress,  that  Gil  Bias,  Roderick  Random, 
and  Fielding's  works,  contained  a  larger  supply  of  the  philos- 
ophy of  human  nature,  than  the  whole  mass  of  current  litera- 
ture besides.  And  there  was  one  who,  when  living,  reflected 
an  uncommon  share  of  lustre,  both  on  the  path  of  letters  and 
jurisprudence,  that  affirmed  in  a  literary  production  of  some 
celebrity,  that  Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  Shakspeare's  works, 
and  Don  Quixote,  would  reward  a  student  for  a  faithful  de- 
votion to  them,  with  a  larger  return  of  precious  benefits,  than 
would  the  perusal  of  countless  volumes  of  mediocre  literature.f 

These  examples  have  not  been  introduced  for  the  purpose 
of  arbitrarily  binding  down  the  student  to  the  insertion  of 
these  works  in  his  code  of  disciplinary  reading,  but  to  show 
that  the  practice  of  selecting  certain  authors  with  a  view  to 
specific  mental  adaptations  possessed  by  them,  has  been  sanc- 
tioned by  the  authority  of  some  of  the  brightest  names  which 
shine  in  the  pages  of  human  history. 

*  Judge  Moore,  of  North  CaroUna.   f  Judge  Murphy,  of  North  Carolina. 


272       THE  MOST  APPROVED  AUTHORS. 

And  whilst  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  preceding  authors 
might  at  all  times  prove  highly  efficacious  in  producing  the 
desired  result  at  those  intellectual  points  at  which  they  have 
been  hitherto  applied,  when  the  mind  of  a  student  might  be 
inspired  with  a  firm  conviction  of  their  importance.  Yet  so 
much  depends  in  the  choice  of  works  for  the  creation  of  any 
particular  mental  quality  or  function,  upon  the  congeniality 
of  the  style  and  spirit  of  the  works  themselves  to  the  taste 
and  feelings  of  the  reader  of  them,  that  a  very  broad  field 
of  discretion  must  be  left,  in  the  choice  of  these  disciplinary 
authors,  to  the  enlightened  experience  and  judgment  of  the 
student  himself. 

The  same  principle  sometimes  presents  itself  in  the 
literary  experience  of  a  human  being,  which  occurs  at  times, 
in  the  physical  history  of  our  race,  that  a  literary  work 
which  may  prove  a  charming  antidote  to  the  mental  in- 
firmities or  defects  of  one  reader,  may  prove  the  pernicious 
bane  of  the  intellectual  interests  of  another.  In  this  as- 
pect of  the  case,  it  may  be  the  judicious  course  to  ap- 
ply the  same  rule  in  the  work  of  admonition  and  suggestion 
here,  that  might  be  adopted  by  a  conscientious  locksmith, 
when  applied  to  for  a  key  to  unlock  a  door  by  a  person  who 
may  have  incurred  the  misfortune  of  losing  his  own.  That  is, 
to  give  him  a  huge  bunch  suited  to  the  opening  of  every  va- 
riety of  locks,  and  to  instruct  him  to  try  them  all  in  success- 
ion until  he  found  one  that  would  open  the  door,  and  that 
would  be  infallibly  the  right  key.  Different  authors  are 
here  adduced,  which  have  been  used  by  a  portion  of  the 
most  celebrated  men  in  modern  times  for  the  production 
of  specific  mental  results,  and  the  discretion  is  reserved  to 
the  student  of  selecting  those  particular  works  which  he  will 
find  on  an  intelligent  inspection  to  be  best  suited  to  his  taste. 

That  class  of  pupils  who  may  cherish  a  higher  degree  of 
admiration  for  bold  and  confident  assertion,  than  for  a 
conscientious  and  salutary  degree  of  caution  in  an  adviser. 


THE  MOST  APPROVED  AUTHOBS.       273 

may  regard  the  suggestions  presented  in  the  preceding  lines 
as  being  impressed  with  the  brand  of  a  very  indefinite 
character.  But  if  a  diseased  individual  should  apply  for  a 
remedy  to  a  physician  who  had  no  acquaintance  with  his 
constitutional  peculiarities,  and  under  whose  supervision  the 
patient  was  not  going  to  remain  even  a  single  hour ;  the 
physician  could  not  be  blamed  for  indefiniteness  in  his  in- 
structions, in  delivering  to  the  applicant  a  list  of  all  the  in- 
nocent remedies  which  had  proved  successful  in  curing  such 
diseases  in  the  published  cases;  and  in  leaving  it  to  the 
discretion  of  the  patient  himself  to  try  them  all  in  suc- 
cession until  he  should  strike  upon  the  right  one.  The 
same  rule  has  been  applied  here  in  suggesting  those  par- 
ticular works  to  the  student  in  elocution,  which  have  here- 
tofore administered  strength  and  regularity  to  mental  opera- 
tions, and  in  leaving  him,  on  a  fair  experiment  of  the  mat- 
ter, to  determine  which  author  is  best  adapted  to  the  pro- 
duction of  a  desired  result. 

And  the  proposition  is  here  respectfully  but  confidently 
advanced,  that  a  sagacious  and  intelligent  reader  of  literary 
works,  can  by  the  assistance  of  even  a  slender  stock  of  expe- 
rience in  matters  of  the  kind,  decide  with  as  infallible  cer- 
tainty what  authors  will  prove  most  conducive  to  the  aug- 
mentation of  his  intellectual  power  and  fertility,  as  a  person 
of  acute  perceptions  and  close  observation  can  pronounce  , 
what  articles  of  food  shall  best  correspond  with  his  physical 
health  and  constitution. 

It  is  only  necessary  that  the  student  should  read  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  pages  in  any  particular  author,  to  procure  a 
taste  of  the  spirit  which  pervades  its  pages,  to  enable  him  to 
apprehend  with  clearness  whether  it  will  enhance  the  vigor 
and  fertility  of  his  mind  or  not. 

It  may  usually  be  assumed  as  a  rational  inference,  when  a 
student  is  found  engaged  in  preparing  himself  for  entering  so 
ostensible  a  department  of  the  broad  field  of  practical  life  as 

13* 


274       THE  MOST  AEPEOVED  AUTHORS. 

that  of  public  speaking,  that  he  has  described  as  the  course 
of  his  preliminary  reading,  that  entire  circle  of  ancient  his- 
torical literature,  which  has  been  generally  prescribed  to  en- 
lightened students  as  a  porch  of  entry  to  either  of  the  liberal 
professions.  And  if  not  the  whole  circle,  that  he  has  acquired  a 
respectable  knowledge  of  those  historical  works  which  every 
substantial  farmer  puts  into  the  hands  of  his  children  when 
they  attain  the  age  of  fifteen  years. 

For  the  sake  of  preserving  prominently  in  the  remem- 
brance certain  authors  which  will  be  derided  by  the  vapor- 
ing pretenders  to  an  exquisite  degree  of  taste  and  refinement, 
because  these  works  have  become  hackneyed  and  profaned 
as  they  will  naturally  suppose  by  vulgar  use ;  it  is  deemed 
proper  to  suggest  that  too  large  a  share  of  attention  cannot 
be  assigned  by  the  student  to  Rollin's  History  and  Plutarch's 
Lives,  on  the  field  of  ancient  history,  and  to  Hume's  History 
of  England,  Robertson's  History  of  Scotland,  and  Voltaire's 
Life  of  Charles  Xllth,  among  modern  historians  and  authors 
of  celebrity.  The  information  conveyed  by  these  works  is 
exceedingly  precious  in  its  character,  but  it  is  not  so  much 
on  account  of  the  value  possessed  by  the  literary  lore  con- 
tained in  them  that  they  are  commended  to  the  attention  of 
the  student,  for  that  might  probably  be  extracted  as  abun- 
dantly from  the  leaves  of  other  authors.  It  is  for  the  rich 
spirit  of  philosophy  which  is  imbibed  from  the  pages  of 
some  of  these  authors,  and  the  deep  tincture  of  classic 
elegance,  which  is  imparted  by  others  amongst  them,  that 
this  selection  of  very  familiar  works  has  been  made  to  the 
pupil. 

There  have  been  so  many  pens  which  have  become  nimble 
in  sounding  the  praises  of  "  Gibbon's  History  of  the  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  that  it  seems  to  constitute 
almost  a  profanation  of  literary  sanctity,  to  dissent  from  the 
proposition,  that  this  eloquent  embodiment  of  historical  truth 
constitutes  one  of  the  best  authors  to  place  in  the  hands  of  a 


THE  MOST  APPROVED  AUTHORS.  275 

student  for  perusal.  But  its  style  is  ornamented  with  such 
a  cumbrous  weight  of  magnificence,  that  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible for  a  student  of  any  ordinary  share  of  susceptibility, 
to  pass  over  its  glittering  pages  without  finding  his  own 
phrase  marked  for  a  considerable  time  by  a  redundant  flor- 
idity  of  verbiage.  The  juvenile  reader  passes  from  page  to 
page  of  this  splendid  work,  with  the  same  feelings  that  he 
would  pass  through  an  extended  grove,  painted  with  beautiful 
flowers,  robed  in  refreshing  verdure,  and  scented  with  fra- 
grant odors,  but  at  the  terminus  of  which  he  finds  that  he  has 
gathered  no  solid  nutriment  to  compensate  him  for  his  ram- 
bles. And  independent  of  its  prodigal  display  of  decoration, 
it  presents  in  its  incidents,  its  scenes,  its  nomenclature,  and 
its  characters,  such  a  mournful  transition  from  that  splendid 
era  in  which  Rome  was  an  exuberant  spring  of  glory  in  learn- 
ing, in  eloquence,  in  arms,  and  in  arts,  that  the  student  must 
inevitably  turn  with  the  languor  of  unrewarded  expectation, 
from  an  expanse  which  is  decked  with  so  much  bloom,  but 
which  yields  such  a  stinted  supply  of  fruit. 

There  is  no  class  of  authors  which,  from  the  great  variety 
of  interesting  subjects  disposed  of  in  them,  and  from  the 
sprightly  and  racy  manner  in  which  they  are  written,  which 
may  be  more  eminently  calculated  to  enrich  the  social  casket 
of  the  student  with  a  copious  supply  of  colloquial  embellish- 
ments, or  to  communicate  a  high  seasoning  to  his  style  in 
speaking  and  writing,  than  the  most  approved  and  celebrated 
works  in  natural  history.  In  this  very  inviting  catalogue  may 
be  included  Buffbn,  Cuvier,  Goldsmith,  Godman,  Audubon, 
and  Willson,  a  perusal  of  either  of  which,  in  addition  to  the 
fine  literary  culture  they  afford,  will  certainly  charm  away 
the  languor  and  tediousness  of  the  dullest  hour. 

There  is  another  class  of  authors  which  a  student  in  elocu- 
tion should  read  with  a  share  of  true  and  sincere  devo- 
tion. The  works  to  which  reference  is  made,  are  the  stand- 
ard works  in  political  economy.      He  should  study  these 


276  THE  MOST  APPEOVED  AUTHOES. 

with  peculiar  care,  regardless  of  the  political  bearing  and 
complexion  of  their  doctrinal  tenets  on  particular  topics; 
for  they  shed  a  broader  and  clearer  blaze  of  light  upon 
varied  topics  of  a  political  nature  which  enter  into  the 
aggregate  of  human  business,  and  they  imbue  the  human 
mind  with  a  more  astonishing  versatility  of  thought  and 
power,  in  discussing  subjects  of  a  political  nature,  than  the 
whole  range  of  human  literature  besides.  It  is  almost  im- 
possible for  a  mind  in  any  degree  susceptible,  to  give  its 
thoughts  to  the  best  works  of  this  description,  without  receiv- 
ing from  their  influence  an  admirable  training  for  the  duties 
and  discussions  of  political  life.  We  refer  to  the  most  ap- 
proved authors  which  have  enlightened  the  world  on  the 
subject  of  political  economy,  among  which  may  be  included 
the  works  of  Adam  Smith,  Say,  and  Way  land. 

Another  department  of  literature  which  is  calculated  to  re- 
quite a  student  for  its  perusal  with  rich  and  varied  supplies 
of  ornamental  and  useful  instruction,  comprehends  the  ablest 
and  most  enlightened  works  in  medical  science,  the  more  es- 
pecially those  which  have  been  devoted  to  physiology  and 
medical  jurisprudence.  It  cannot  be  expected  from  the  stu 
dent  of  a  profession  altogether  distinct  from  that  of  medical 
science,  to  study  the  whole  circle  of  medical  authors ;  but  he 
may  very  profitably  yield  a  portion  of  his  leisure  moments 
to  the  most  instructive  and  celebrated  works  in  that  inter- 
esting field  of  science,  under  the  guidance  and  instruction  of  a 
practical  and  enlightened  member  of  the  medical  profession. 

Within  the  circle  of  clerical  literature,  it  may  redound 
largely  to  the  benefit  of  a  student  in  elocution,  to  read  the 
sermons  of  Dr.  Robert  South,  on  account  of  the  massive 
solidity  and  strength  of  the  language  which  they  contain,  as 
well  as  for  the  muscular  power  and  robustness  of  intellect 
which  is  displayed  in  every  argument  and  thought  he  ad- 
vances. He  should  read  with  delight  the  sermons  of  Arch- 
bishop Tillotson,  on  account  of  the  beautiful  simplicity  and 


THE  MOST  APPROVED  AUTHORS.  277 

perspicuity  of  his  style.  The  sermons  of  Dr.  Thomas  Chal- 
mers merit  a  large  share  of  his  devotions,  owing  both  to  the 
almost  unfathomable  depth  of  his  researches  on  topics  of 
theological  and  general  science,  and  the  luminous  elegance 
with  which  he  imparts  the  fruit  of  his  speculations  to  the 
world.  On  the  American  side  of  the  Atlantic,  there  is 
scarcely  any  production  which  has  emanated  from  the  pen 
of  man,  the  perusal  of  which  would  communicate  brighter 
hues  of  elegance,  or  a  more  graceful  and  attractive  finish,  in 
the  shape  of  ornament  to  the  style  of  a  gifted  speaker  or 
writer,  than  the  theological  and  miscellaneous  works  of  the 
late  Dr.  Channing. 

When  authors  which  pertain  to  the  department  of  legal 
science  are  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  student  of 
elocution  in  this  chapter,  it  is  not  with  the  view  of  enhancing 
his  attainments  as  a  lawyer  that  these  works  are  commend- 
ed to  his  thoughts,  but  with  the  desire  to  augment  the  rich- 
ness, beauty,  and  strength  of  his  style  as  a  speaker  and 
writer.  And  it  may  not  prove  an  idle  expenditure  of  labor 
and  thought,  in  this  connection,  to  suggest  that,  in  the  region 
of  natural  and  political  law,  no  writers  will  reward  him 
more  richly  for  a  few  hours  of  reflection  occasionally  de- 
voted to  them,  than  will  Grotius,  Puffendorf,  and  Selden. 

Amidst  the  more  recent  treasures  of  legal  lore,  the  trea- 
tise written  by  Sir  William  Jones  on  the  doctrine  of  bail- 
ments, is  a  clear,  beautiful,  and  refreshing  spring  of  instruc- 
tion on  the  subject  to  which  it  is  devoted,  and  will  be  apt  to 
requite  a  careful  attention  to  its  pages,  with  some  very  pre- 
cious gems  both  of  thought  and  expression.  The  treatise 
of  Judge  Story,  of  this  country,  on  the  same  subject,  is 
hardly  surpassed  in  point  of  beauty  and  elegance  by  the 
work  of  the  great  English  Jurist,  and  will  amply  repay  a 
student  for  its  perusal,  both  in  its  contributions  to  the  cabi- 
net of  his  thoughts  and  language.  The  productions  also  of 
the  same  accomplished  Jurist,  the  one  of  which  has  been  de- 


278  THE   MOST  APPROVED  AUTHORS. 

voted  to  an  exposition  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  the 
other  to  a  consideration  of  the  conflicts  which  occur  between 
the  laws  of  different  States,  will  also  form  highly  judicious 
elements  in  a  course  of  reading  which  may  be  adopted  by 
a  student  in  elocution.  The  Commentaries  of  Chancellor 
Kent  have  presented  some  of  the  most  complex  and  useful 
topics  comprehended  within  the  boundaries  of  legal  science, 
in  a  style  so  familiar,  luminous,  and  instructive,  that  they 
cannot  be  considerately  read  without  leaving  in  their  train 
benefits  of  rare  value  for  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  a  suscep- 
tible mind.  The  Commentaries  of  Sir  William  Blackstone 
have  heretofore  chiefly  attracted  the  attention  of  the  reading 
world  almost  exclusively  as  a  professional  work.  But  there 
is  scarcely  any  author  within  the  comprehensive  circle  of 
English  literature  which  deserves  to  be  more  highly  prized 
by  a  student  in  elocution,  for  the  quiet  and  graceful  beauty 
which  breathes  in  every  page  which  it  contains,  than  this  cele- 
brated production.  They  are  worth  far  more  as  a  model 
of  style  in  composition  than  the  productions  of  his  bitter 
and  memorable  assailant,  Junius,  which  have  been  so  lib- 
erally, enthusiastically,  and  variously  applauded  by  man- 
kind. 

It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  all  the  authors  which  a  stu- 
dent may  peruse,  with  the  experience  of  large  and  conspicu- 
ous returns  of  advantage  to  himself.  All  that  can  be  attained 
in  a  work  of  this  description,  is  to  suggest  a  few  of  those 
which  have  received  the  approving  stamp  of  the  best  experi- 
ence of  the  w^orld — works  which  he  cannot  fail  to  read  with- 
out reaping  at  least  some  partial  degree  of  service  from  them ; 
and  to  leave  to  his  own  discretion  such  other  works  as  may 
be  commended  to  his  homage  by  their  acknowledged  intrinsic 
value.  It  would  constitute  a  culpable  omission  of  duty,  if 
this  chapter  should  be  brought  to  a  close  without  pressing 
upon  his  attention,  as  an  American  citizen,  in  the  most  fervent 
and  earnest  manner,  the  numbers  of  the  Federalist.     They 


THE   USE  OF  BIBLICAL  QUOTATIONS.  279 

will  enlighten  him  in  regard  to  the  institutions  of  his  country ; 
they  will  be  calculated  to  impart  to  his  style,  both  in  writing 
and  speaking,  a  large  accession  of  fervency  and  vigor ;  and 
they  will  certainly  have  a  tendency  to  imbue  his  mind  wdth 
very  intense  powers  of  thought  on  all  subjects  of  a  political 
nature.  Locke's  essays  will  also  constitute  a  highly  valuable 
discipline  for  his  intellectual  powers,  in  writing  or  speaking 
on  political  topics  of  the  most  elevated  grade,  as  well  as  a 
very  rich  repository  of  instruction  in  metaphysical  and  polit- 
ical science.  A  large  portion  of  the  philosophical  and  literary 
works  of  the  celebrated  Lord  Bacon  will,  from  their  uncom- 
mon originality  and  richness,  have  a  very  direct  tendency  to 
invigorate  and  adorn,  in  a  very  high  degree,  the  language 
and  thoughts  of  an  intelligent  and  considerate  reader  of  them. 


CHAPTER   LXXIX. 

THK   INTRODUCTION   OF   BIBLICAL   QUOTATIONS   INTO   SECULAR    SPEKCHES. 

There  is  no  field  of  literary  exploration  which  is  enriched 
with  such  a  precious  and  abundant  harvest  of  beautiful  and  in- 
structive allusions  and  illustrations  as  the  sacred  pages  of  di- 
vine revelation.  And  these  gems  of  thought  are  not  found  in 
scattered  patches  in  the  grand  repository  of  human  duty,  like 
solitary  pearls  upon  a  bleak  and  sterile  coast ;  but  the  whole 
path  of  revelation,  fr(5m  the  early  daw^n  of  creation  down  to  the 
closing  sentence  of  the  Bible,  is  luminous  with  these  resplen- 
dent passages  of  wisdom ;  which  shed  a  glory  on  the  depart- 
ment of  letters,  which  is  only  surpassed  by  the  enduring  and 
priceless  benefits  which  they  convey  to  our  fallen  race,  for  its 
deliverance  from  ruin  and  for  its  guidance  to  felicity.  The 
beautiful  in  the  Bible  is  not  monotonous  in  its  character  from 


280  THE   USE  OF  BIBLICAL   QUOTATIONS. 

being  applicable  alone  to  some  particular  interest  or  concern 
within  the  range  of  human  duty.  Endowed  with  a  universality 
of  elegance,  and  an  unfathomable  profundity  of  richness,  it  may 
be  used  as  successfully  to  impart  a  fragrance  to  every  page 
of  classic  literature,  as  it  is  to  pour  the  radiance  of  unerring 
wisdom  on  the  darkened  understanding.  The  beautiful  pass- 
ages have  not  lost  their  zest,  like  withered  flowers,  from  the 
long  and  hackneyed  use  of  them  in  the  way  of  quotation ;  par- 
taking, in  some  degree,  of  the  ever-freshening  and  ever-reno- 
vating happiness  which  flows  from  the  faithful  service  of  their 
author,  these  passages  may  be  applied  by  different  writers, 
to  subjects  differing  as  widely  as  the  poles,  with  some  new 
apparition  of  beauty  arising  to  the  view  in  every  successive  use 
of  them. 

As  an  embellishment  to  true  eloquence,  no  extract  from 
the  choicest  page  of  secular  literature,  can  approximate  in 
point  of  elegance  and  effect  a  happy  selection  from  the 
Scriptures,  when  appropriately  introduced  and  applied.  The 
works  of  Shakspeare  have  constituted  a  standing  and  ex- 
haustless  treasury,  from  which  pure  gold  has  been  drawn  to 
gild  with  brighter  beams  of  attraction  both  the  dull  and  the 
attractive  page.  But  it  forms  the  glory  of  Shakspeare,  that 
the  productions  of  his  prolific  pen  rank  next  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  point  of  beauty  and  originality  of  thought, 
with  a  chasm  intervening  between  the  merits  of  the  two,  as 
wide  as  that  between  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  The  con- 
ceptions of  Milton  are  drawn  directly  from  the  opening  scene 
of  revelation,  and  the  very  gorgeousness  of  his  drapery  only 
serves  to  disclose  the  necessity  which  cjJists  in  all  human  im- 
itations of  celestial  sublimity  for  artificial  appliances  to  supply 
the  place  of  that  uncreated  fervor  which  glows  in  every  syl- 
lable of  the  Bible. 

But  whilst  an  intelligent  survey  of  the  Scriptures  will 
extort  from  the  most  reluctant  lips  the  spontaneous  con- 
fession, that  in  whatever  is  sublime  in  conception,  grand  in 


THE  USE  OF  BIBLICAL  QUOTATIONS.  281 

imagery,  luminous  in  thought,  and  beautiful  in  language,  it 
surpasses  indefinitely  the  most  precious  treasures  amongst 
the  printed  wisdom  of  the  world,  yet  these  sacred  maxims 
of  wisdom  are  not  to  he  desecrated  by  an  application  of  them 
to  the  furtherance  of  a  frivolous  sentiment,  or  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  light  and  commonplace  objects.  The  author- 
ity and  beauty  of  quotations  from  the  Scriptures  should  be 
invoked  in  illustration  of  a  noble  and  virtuous  sentimentality, 
or  to  fortify  a  high  and  pure  morality.  It  not  only  detracts 
from  the  solemnity  of  these  holy  truths,  to  drag  them  down 
from  their  high  mission,  to  be  mixed  up  with  the  petty  pur- 
suits of  life,  but  it  also  sheds  a  blighting  contempt  on  the 
enterprise  of  the  writer  or  speaker  who  may  prove  so  pre- 
sumptuous as  to  profane  sacred  things  by  draggling  them  in 
the  trail  of  his  own  puny  aspirations. 

Many  of  the  most  eminent  speakers  and  writers  both  liv- 
ing and  dead,  whose  fame  graces  the  history  of  this  country, 
frequently  enhanced  the  power  and  the  beauty  of  their  pro- 
ductions by  the  felicitous  introduction  of  Scripture  quota- 
tions. Amongst  these,  John  Quincy  Adams,  John  Randolph, 
and  Sergeant  S.  Prentiss,  are  now  remembered  to  have  held 
a  very  conspicuous  rank. 

But  though  the  pure  and  ample  field  of  divine  revelation 
is  open  to  the  secular  speaker  and  writer  for  the  purposes  of 
embellishment  and  illustration,  it  will  be  conforming  to  the 
principles  of  sound  taste,  that  speakers  and  writers  of  the 
character  referred  to,  should  not  wield  the  truths  of  the  Gos- 
pel with  ministerial  authority.  That  is,  they  should  not  use 
these  truths  (in  matters  of  temporal  speaking  and  writing) 
in  persuading  their  hearers  to  religion  by  the  attraction  of 
the  promises  of  the  Gospel,  nor  should  they  endeavor  to  de- 
ter men  from  vice  and  iniquity  by  parading  before  their 
minds  the  penal  terrors  of  the  divine  law.  They  would  be 
thus  usurping  a  duty  which  pertains  exclusively  to  the  sacred 
desk,  and  whilst  the  practice  would  bring  no  accession  of 


282  GREEK  AND  LATIN  QUOTATIONS. 

strength  to  the  cause  of  religion,  it  almost  unfailingly  attracts 
invidious  remarks  to  the  speaker  or  writer  who  indulges  him- 
self in  this  habit. 


CHAPTER  LXXX. 

A   SPEAKER   SHOULD     ABSTAIN    FROM    LATIN    AND    GREEK    QUOTATIONS,    AND 
FROM   HABITUAL   ALLUSIONS   TO   GREECE   AND   ROME. 

The  act  of  interspersing  a  speech  or  argument  with  frag- 
mentary portions  of  Latin  and  Greek,  except  where  the  pro- 
duction may  be  delivered  in  the  presence  of  an  audience 
distinguished  for  its  literary  culture,  involves  a  very  broad 
infraction  both  of  the  code  of  just  taste  and  of  sound  breeding. 
The  act  in  question  comprehends  a  violation  of  good  taste, 
because  it  is  the  invariable  resort  of  superficial  smatterers, 
who,  having  never  drank  from  the  pure  original  fountains  of 
classic  erudition,  take  sedulous  care  to  collate  a  few  stale 
and  worn  out  scraps  from  the  rudimental  authors  in  the  law, 
and  ring  them  in  the  ears  of  the  ignorant ;  just  as  men  on 
the  borrow  in  the  pecuniary  market  collect  a  few  silver 
pence,  and  jingle  them  on  the  exchanges,  to  create  the  im- 
pression with  the  bystanders,  that  they  are  men  of  a  million. 

An  indulgence  in  quotations  from  the  ancient  classics,  ex- 
cept in  the  instance  already  reserved,  conveys  an  implied 
assumption  from  the  speaker  to  his  hearers,  that  he  is  him- 
self enriched  with  the  classic  gems  of  every  age,  and  that  they 
an  ignorant  set  of  boobies,  must  sit  with  gaping  mouths  and 
greedy  throats,  and  be  stuffed  by  him  with  recondite  lore, 
just  as  starving  pigeons  are  crammed  with  food  by  the  ma- 
ternal bill. 

A  passage  from  the  ancient  classics  nicely  interwoven  with 


GREEK  AND  LATIN  QUOTATIONS.  283 

the  web  of  a  discourse  which  is  spoken  before  an  enlightened 
audience  that  may  be  presumed  to  know  something  about 
Latin  and  Greek,  as  well  as  the  speaker,  and  which  is  in- 
troduced without  parade  or  ostentation,  may  serve  both  as 
a  graceful  and  instructive  ornament.  But  the  gross  profa- 
nation of  the  sanctity  of  classical  learning,  of  which  fustian 
speakers  are  constantly  guilty  in  introducing  their  reckis  in 
curiams,  coram  non  judices,  res  adjudicatas,  and  other  with- 
ered flowers  plucked  from  the  rudimental  expounders  of  the 
law,  before  illiterate  juries  in  the  courts,  and  before  promis- 
cuous assemblies  from  the  hustings ;  is  sufficient  to  loathe  the 
almost  impalpable  particles  of  delicacy  which  cling  to  the 
intellectual  constitution  of  a  drayman  or  a  chimney  sweep. 
This  practice  has  now  taken  up  its  refuge,  so  exclusively, 
however,  amongst  the  rear-guard  of  the  profession,  that  it  is 
almost  unnecessary  to  brand  it  with  reprehension. 

But  there  is  another  defective  trait  found  amongst  speakers 
which  frequently  casts  a  blur  upon  some  of  the  most  finished 
productions  which  bless  and  adorn  our  country  by  their  pres- 
ence. The  imperfection  to  which  reference  is  now  made,  is  the 
habitual  tendency  of  a  large  number  of  American  speakers  to 
be  eternally  dipping  into  the  history  of  Greece  and  Rome  in 
the  delivery  of  an  intellectual  production.  A  fact  of  very 
decisive  weight  on  any  subject,  or  a  very  novel  and  beauti- 
ful illustration  drawn  from  the  leaves  of  these  ancient  repos- 
itories of  human  wisdom,  will  never  descend  with  grating 
harshness  on  the  ear  of  refinement.  But  the  continual 
thrumming  on  these  hackneyed  strings  of  oratorical  music  is 
so  exclusively  the  perquisite  of  Sophomoric  orators  and  of 
graduates  from  provincial  schools,  that  a  tingling  sensation 
is  invariably  produced  in  the  cultivated  ear,  whenever  an  al- 
lusion of  the  kind  now  under  consideration  may  be  intro- 
duced by  a  speaker,  when  the  allusion  itself  is  unblessed  by 
the  charm  of  novelty,  or  by  the  vividness  of  its  applica- 
bility. 


284  THE  EFFECT  OF  POSSESSING 

The  habit  of  taxing  the  histories  of  Greece  and  Rome  for 
supplies  in  the  shape  of  embellishment,  is  an  expedient  of 
superficial  speakers,  to  cover  the  shallowness  of  their  classi- 
cal education.  They  have  never  enjoyed  an  opportunity  of 
raising  that  mystic  veil  which  hides  from  common  observa- 
tion the  genuine  treasures  of  Grecian  and  Roman  literature, 
and  they  are  prone  to  circulate  faint  imitations  of  these  pre- 
cious coins,  similar  to  shop-keepers  in  provincial  towns,  re- 
mote from  the  metropolis,  who,  not  being  able  to  procure 
the  shadows  of  greatness  cast  in  marble,  are  contented  with 
busts  composed  of  stucco,  plaster  of  Paris,  and  other  frail 
and  perishable  materials. 

Whilst  speakers  of  profound  and  varied  acquisition  in  the 
realms  of  ancient  lore,  repair  at  once  to  the  unadulterated 
pages  of  Homer,  Xenophon,  and  Longinus,  amongst  the 
Greeks,  and  of  Cicero,  Horace,  and  Virgil  amongst  the  Ro- 
mans, those  who  have  taken  their  Academic  degree  on 
closing  the  lids  of  Corderi  and  Viri  Romce,  draw  their  orna- 
mental gilding  from  Gibbon,  Rollin,  Plutarch,  and  works  of 
that  description.  Works,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  of  tran- 
scendent merit  in  their  place,  but  not  sufficient  for  imparting 
the  consecrating  touch  of  classic  learning  to  every  vaporing 
orator  who  draws  beauty  or  inspiration  from  their  much-ad- 
mired and  instructive  pages. 


CHAPTER    LXXXI. 

THS  ADYANTAGE  WHICH   A  SPEAKER   DERIVES   FROM   POSSESSING   A   FINE 
PERSON,    CONSIDERED. 

The  proposition  that  a  speaker  can  accomplish  but  little  by 
his  powers  of  eloquence,  unaided  by  the  advantage  of  a  fine 
person,  is  co6val  with  the  business  of  speaking  itself.     That 


A  FINE  PERSON.  285 

a  tall,  commanding,  and  symmetrical  form,  assisted  by  the 
graces  of  manner  and  the  elegancies  of  motion,  may  earn  for 
the  possessor  of  these  personal  advantages  an  abstract  or 
speculative  appreciation  of  the  most  extravagant  kind  in  the 
sphere  of  courtly  fashion  and  romantic  taste,  we  do  not  pre- 
tend to  deny.  But  that  there  is  any  necessary  determination 
to  success  which  is  blended  with  the  possession  of  an  attract- 
ive person,  we  regard  as  an  assumption  which  is  exceedingly 
problematical. 

As  far  as  public  speaking  is  identified  with  the  proposition 
under  consideration,  our  past  observation  induces  us  to  be- 
lieve that  the  sympathies  of  mankind  generally  take  very 
much  the  same  direction,  where  two  persons  are  contro- 
verting a  point  in  debate  with  each  other,  the  one  of  whom 
may  be  lofty,  and  the  other  diminutive  in  stature,  that  it 
generally  assumes  when,  a  large  man  and  a  small  one  are 
engaged  in  a  personal  combat.  The  good  wishes  of  the  spec- 
tators almost  universally  cluster  around  the  person  of  the 
petit  champion.  A  large  proportion  of  mankind,  where 
there  is  no  supervening  circumstance  blended  with  their  lives 
to  determine  them  to  a  contrary  state  of  feeling,  generally 
sympathize  with  those  who  present  no  prominent  personal 
traits  superior  to  their  own.  Those  who  exhibit  persons 
eminently  endowed  with  elevation,  grace,  and  beauty,  are 
in  that  enviable  condition,  as  far  as  attractions  purely  per- 
sonal are  considered,  that  the  mass  of  mankind  may  not 
hope  even  to  approximate  them — to  reach  their  level  would 
be  an  impracticable  attempt. 

Persons,  on  the  contrary,  who  may  be  diminutive  and  ungain- 
ly in  person,  present  no  characteristics  in  the  matter  of  appear- 
ance to  excite  envy  in  the  bosoms  of  their  neighbors ;  and  if 
such  persons  should  aspire  to  any  object  which  requires  the 
application  of  intellectual  power  to  command  its  possession,  the 
world  will  be  apt  to  prove  exceedingly  quick  in  its  impulses 
to  yield  them  a  munificent  appreciation  of  their  merits.     If 


286  THE  EFFECT  OP  POSSESSING 

an  aspirant  to  renown,  in  any  department  of  human  excel- 
lence, has  a  face  and  form  which  excite  commiseration  rather 
than  envy,  his  personal  appearance  does  not  inflict  a  wound 
on  the  self-esteem  of  his  neighbors  wherever  he  meets  them. 
An  aspirant  of  a  commanding  and  beautiful  person,  does  im- 
part a  sort  of  standing  rebuke  to  his  acquaintances  of  indif- 
ferent appearance  wherever  he  meets  them.  A  large  portion 
of  mankind  cannot  endure  or  tolerate  those  perfections  of 
person  or  character,  which  no  art,  perseverance,  or  address, 
which  they  may  employ,  will  enable  them  to  command. 

The  preceding  strain  of  remark,  then,  must  invincibly  con- 
duct every  contemplative  mind  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
public  speaker,  and  every  person  else,  who  covets  the  golden 
prizes  which  hang  on  popular  opinion,  presents  a  barrier  to  the 
genial  flow  of  the  popular  kindness  towards  him,  on  every 
occasion  in  which  he  shall  exhibit  the  ostensible  advantages 
of  a  fine  person  to  the  gaze  of  the  multitude.  The  self  es- 
teem of  mankind,  does  not  enjoy  a  free  circulation  when  a 
person  of  this  description  is  about — his  elegancies  of  per- 
son, like  a  chilling  frost,  freezes  up  their  personal  compla- 
cency in  its  channels. 

This  is  far  from  being  true  in  its  application  to  a  speaker 
who  presents  to  the  eye  of  the  world  a  dwarfish  person  and 
an  indifierent  face.  Mankind  are  well  apprized  of  the  fact, 
that  a  contrast  injurious  or  humiliating  to  them  can  never  be 
instituted  between  the  personal  endowments  of  such  a  man 
and  their  own.  They  feel  so  much  at  ease  in  regard  to  an 
individual  of  very  inferior  personal  endowments,  as  far  as 
that  question  is  involved,  that  they  can  aflford  to  be  liberal 
and  gracious  with  him  at  every  other  point  at  which  he  thirsts 
for  applause  or  caresses.  If  he  exhibits  respectable  powers 
in  speaking,  in  the  character  of  a  candidate  for  public  favor, 
they  are  willing  to  vote  for  him  in  opposition  to  an  opponent 
who  is  rendered  odious  by  a  lofly  and  engaging  person.  If 
he  be  a  legislator,  the  members  arc  willing  to  vote  for  his 


A  FINE  PERSON.  287 

measure,  in  defiance  of  the  fine  reasoning  of  an  opposing 
member  who  has  committed  the  unpardonable  sin  of  being 
handsome.  If  he  is  advocating  a  cause  before  a  jury,  they 
will  decide  agreeably  to  his  wishes,  to  mortify  an  opposing 
advocate,  who  daily  wounds  their  self-esteem  by  the  hateful 
exhibition  in  their  presence  of  a  person  more  graceful,  beau- 
tiful and  attractive  than  theirs. 

For  the  purpose  of  testing  the  proposition  before  us,  by  a 
resort  to  the  practical  realities  of  life,  let  us  inquire  who  it 
is  that  brings  into  intense  play  the  sympathies  of  the  popu- 
lace, when  a  fight  is  in  progress  on  a  public  square,  between 
two  antagonists,  the  one  of  whom  is  gigantic  in  his  propor- 
tions, and  the  other  very  small  ?  Why,  experience  with  her 
truthful  and  unerring  voice  proclaims  that  it  is  the  diminu- 
tive combatant.  Who  is  it  that  inspires  the  multitude  with 
a  phrenzied  share  of  enthusiasm,  when  a  discussion  is  advanc- 
ing on  the  hustings  between  a  large  and  a  diminutive  de- 
bater 1  Both  experience  and  the  intuitive  perceptions  of 
nature  point  us  to  the  petit  gentleman  as  the  engrossing 
mark  of  the  public  interest  and  favor.  Which  advocate  is 
it  that  engages  the  fervent  wishes  of  the  people  for  his  suc- 
cess, when  a  law  case  is  in  the  progress  of  discussion  in  a 
Court  of  Justice,  where  a  counsellor  of  commanding  frame 
is  on  one  side,  and  a  second  edition  of  Lilliput  is  on  the 
other  ?  A  stem  regard  to  the  universal  voice  of  precedent 
on  the  subject,  would  compel  a  jury  who  might  be  sworn 
and  empanelled  to  try  the  question,  to  decide  that  it  would 
be  the  badly-grown  attorney  who  would  bear  away  the  palm, 
so  far  as  the  popular  feeling  would  carry  him  forward  to  the 
point  of  success. 

And  it  is  not  merely  in  pugilistic  encounters,  in  contests 
for  elective  honors,  and  in  trials  of  strength  before  the  legis- 
lative assemblies  of  the  country,  that  the  petit  competitor  is 
fortified  by  the  best  feelings  of  the  people,  to  the  exclusion 
of  his  lofty  and  commanding  rival.     Where  the  heart  of 


288  THE  EFFECT  OF  POSSESSING 

beauty  is  to  be  won,  the  petit  suitor  is  almost  certain  to  bear 
away  the  alluring  prize  over  the  shoulders  of  his  tall  and 
imposing  rival. 

The  public  theory  affirms  that  the  diminutive  lover  is  hate- 
ful to  the  gentler  sex.  Public  practice  and  experience  pro- 
claim that  the  more  minute  aspirant  almost  universally  de- 
feats a  stately  and  ostensible  rival.  It  may  be  proba- 
ble, that  the  small  aspirant  in  these  adventures  supplies  in 
tenacity  of  purpose  and  in  the  spirit  of  perseverance  what 
he  lacks  in  the  matter  of  grace  and  in  elevation  of  figure. 
It  is  true  to  the  letter,  however,  that  the  records  of  experience 
distinctly  reveal  the  fact,  that  in  a  large  proportion  of  the 
cases  in  which  tall  men  and  small  men  are  brought  into 
competition,  for  the  attainment  of  any  valuable  object,  that 
the  small  ones  prevail. 

What  are  the  revelations  of  experience  on  the  field  of 
debate  itself?  John  Wilkes,  whose  name  and  elocution  both 
communicated  an  invincible  charm  to  the  populace  of  Lon- 
don, was  remarkable  for  a  face  which  was  hideous  in  its 
character,  and  it  has  never  been  affirmed  that  he  was  blessed 
in  a  stature  beyond  the  level  of  mediocrity.  He  said  him- 
self, "  that  he  could  recognize  the  difference  only  of  half  an 
hour  between  his  own  face  and  that  of  the  handsomest  man 
in  England." 

We  have  never  seen  any  extraordinary  elevation  of  person 
claimed  for  Mirabeau,  and  universal  report  declares  that  his 
face  was  amongst  the  ugliest  that  ever  came  from  Nature's 
mould.  Yet  his  voice  was  the  soul  of  inspiration  to  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  of  France  in  the  most  turbulent  periods  of 
her  history.  And  when  he  happened  to  be  absent  from  the 
deliberations  of  that  celebrated  council  on  any  occasion  when 
it  was  thrown  into  tumult  and  uproar,  he  would  imme- 
diately exclaim,  "  let  them  only  get  a  sight  of  my  boar's- 
face  once,  and  they  will  become  as  quiet  as  doves." 

John  Philpot  Currjui,  who  was  the  pride  and  glory  of  Ire- 


A  FINE  PERSON.  289 

land  in  eloquence,  in  letters,  and  in  the  romance  of  chivalry, 
was  not  only  ugly  in  face  and  diminutive  in  person,  but  he 
was  encumbered  with  the  extremity  of  malformation  in  his 
limbs,  and  was  without  the  faintest  lineament  or  shadow  of 
grace  or  beauty  about  his  person  except  that  imputed  sort  of 
grace  which  beamed  upon  his  mortal  vestments  from  an  in- 
tellect and  soul  that  arose  above  their  earthly  prison,  and 
panted  for  an  union  with  immortality.  Yet  with  all  this 
poverty  of  personal  grace,  with  the  presence  of  all  these 
personal  deformities,  did  any  person  ever  indulge  the  belief 
that  the  tallest  and  most  elegant  advocate  in  Ireland  could 
come  within  beat  of  drum  of  Curran  in  any  contest  which 
might  be  in  progress  before  the  people  or  the  juries  of  Ire- 
land 1 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  is  said  to  have  been  in  stature  about 
five  feet  seven  inches.  Yet  there  was  a  majesty  intrinsic  to 
his  person  which  humbled  and  overawed  the  proudest  poten- 
tates of  Europe,  when  they  were  standing  in  his  presence. 
And  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  finished  specimens  of 
Nature's  workmanship  which  this  country  ever  produced, 
in  point  of  commanding  elegance  and  elevation,  being  Min- 
ister to  the  Court  of  St.  Cloud,  when  Bonaparte  was  first 
Consul,  on  his  return  to  this  country,  remarked,  "  that 
he  felt  that  he  was  a  man  of  some  note  while  he  con- 
tinued in  the  United  States,  but  though  he  was  nearly  a  foot 
taller  (being  about  six  feet  three  inches  in  stature  himself) 
than  Bonaparte,  yet  that  he  felt  as  if  he  had  dwindled  into 
the  insignificance  of  a  pigmy,  on  being  introduced  to  that  re- 
markable personage." 

Dunning,  a  celebrated  advocate,  who  figured  in  the  palm- 
iest and  most  flourishing  era  of  the  eloquence  of  England, 
is  said  to  have  been  diminutive,  ungainly,  and  very  ungrace- 
fiil  in  his  personal  appearance.  Yet  it  has  never  been  alleged 
that  he  ever  had  a  verdict  carried  over  his  head  amidst  the 
contests  of  the  bar,  by  the  attractions  of  any  competitor 

13 


290  THE  EFFECT  OF  POSSESSING 

who  was  blessed  with  a  more  lofty  and  engaging  person  than 
his  own. 

Three  statesmen,  who  have  impressed  their  names  and 
memory  on  this  country,  in  traces  so  indelible  as  only  to  be 
surpassed  in  celebrity  by  the  architect  of  the  temple  of  our 
country's  freedom,  were  each  diminutive  in  person.  We 
refer  to  Alexander  Hamilton,  James  Madison,  and  Aaron 
Burr.  Yet  it  is  said  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  by  his  political 
adversaries,  that  there  was  an  unaffected  majesty  and  dignity 
about  his  person,  which  would  form  a  rebuke  to  imperial 
royalty  itself.  Doctor  Samuel  Johnson  remarked,  concern- 
ing Edmund  Burke,  "  that  the  lines  of  greatness  were  so 
legibly  inscribed  on  his  person,  that  a  passenger  could  not 
take  shelter  from  a  shower  of  rain  under  a  gateway  with 
him,  even  for  a  few  moments,  without  making  the  discovery 
that  he  was  an  extraordinary  man."  Such,  precisely,  was 
Aaron  Burr,  at  the  meridian  of  his  fame  and  popularity,  and 
such  was  he  in  the  wane  and  waste  of  his  political  fortunes, 
when  drinking  the  cup  of  bitterness  to  its  very  dregs.  The 
most  towering  intellect  of  America  could  not  be  brought 
even  transiently  into  juxtaposition  to  him,  without  catching 
by  intuition  the  fact  that  he  was  in  the  presence  of  one  who 
belonged  to  the  royal  lineage  of  nature  ;  and  the  eagle  glance 
of  his  eye  could  not  be  reflected  upon  the  vision  of  the  rudest 
peasant  or  boor  throughout  this  wide-spread  land,  without 
communicating  the  lightning  flash  of  conviction  to  his  mind, 
that  there  was  passing  in  review  before  him  an  image  of 
faded  grandeur,  like  that  which  Milton  pronounced  to  be 
"  the  excess  of  brightness  obscured.''''  James  Madison  was  not 
only  diminutive  in  person,  but  his  most  impassioned  friends 
and  admirers  affirm  that  he  was  not  peculiarly  blessed  in 
the  graces  of  manner ;  yet  was  it  the  still  small  voice  of  rea- 
son, conveyed  by  his  tongue  to  the  councils  of  his  country, 
amidst  the  most  convulsing  agitations  which  marked  the 
progress  of  our  government  and  free  institutions  to  a  state 


A  FINE  PEESON.  -•  291 

of  consummation,  which  unfailingly  hushed  the  waves  of  tu- 
mult into  a  calm. 

Many  of  those  who,  when  living,  were  the  brightest  orna- 
ments of  our  country's  fame  and  character,  and  whose  mem- 
ories, now  that  they  are  dead,  constitute  the  choicest  treasures 
in  the  casket  of  our  national  renown,  were  very  small  men. 

Alfred  Moore,*  whose  learning,  talents,  and  integrity,  re- 
flected lustre  on  the  most  exalted  bench  of  judicature  in  this 
country,  about  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  is 
said  to  have  been  a  gentleman  of  diminutive  stature.  Yet  in 
the  stern  strifes  of  the  bar  it  was  his  destiny  to  contend  with 
many  who  were  giants  in  person  as  well  as  giants  in  mind. 
But  it  has  never  been  alleged  that  he  did  not  tower  to  a  suf 
flcient  elevation,  by  the  force  of  his  genius,  eloquence,  and 
acquirements,  to  attain  the  loftiest  eminence  which  was  occu- 
pied by  the  noblest  of  his  rivals  and  cotemporaries. 

John  Sergeant  was  diminutive  in  person,  yet  the  force  of 
his  intellect,  the  vigor  and  skill  he  exerted  in  debate,  and  the 
saintly  purity  of  his  moral  character,  invested  his  voice  with 
a  charm  in  the  councils  of  his  country,  which  was  never 
broken  or  dispelled  by  the  giant  arm  of  those  debaters  he 
encountered,  who  rose  in  height  greatly  above  the  medioc- 
rity of  human  altitude. 

The  late  John  Stanly,  of  North  Carolina,  was  hardly  above 
five  feet  six  inches  in  height,  yet  a  large  proportion  of  the 
most  towering  debaters,  both  in  person  and  in  intellect,  who 
acted  on  the  public  stage  during  the  period  in  which  he  fig- 
ured, are  known  to  have  deferred  to  his  thrilling  trump  in  dis- 
cussion. And  a  gentleman  whose  mind  has  been  munificently 
adorned  by  the  learning  of  every  age,  on  once  hearing  Mr. 
Stanly  deliver  a  speech  in  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina, 
which  was  replete  with  the  richest  decorations  of  a  classic 
diction,  commended   by  the  most   exquisite   and   insinuat- 

*  Hon.  Alfred  Moore,  of  North  Carolina,  formerly  one  of  the  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 


292  THE  EFFECT  OF  POSSESSING 

ing  graces  of  a  finished  manner,  and  aided  by  the  most  elegant 
blandishments  of  a  courtly  and  polished  exterior,  observed, 
"  that  Mr.  Stanly  came  upon  the  stage  as  a  speaker,  and 
made  his  exit  from  it  with  infinitely  more  grace  than  any 
orator  he  had  ever  seen." 

It  will  not  be  denied  that  when  a  debater,  blessed  in  the 
possession  of  an  elegant  and  commanding  person,  is  discours- 
ing in  the  presence  of  an  assembly  of  persons,  that  the  ad- 
vantages of  his  person  may  attract  to  him  a  very  special  share 
of  attention.  But  the  attention  which  a  speaker  thus  en- 
gages is  not  yielded  to  what  he  says,  it  is  given  to  what  he 
looks.  The  admiration  which  is  attracted  to  a  speaker  is  not 
extracted  from  the  heart  of  an  audience  by  any  additional 
weight,  persuasiveness,  fascination,  or  power,  which  is  com- 
municated to  his  oratory  by  the  accomplishment  of  a  grace- 
ful and  commanding  exterior ;  the  tribute  of  admiration  is 
yielded  to  his  personal  appearance,  considered  abstractly  from 
his  speaking  entirely.  The  same  measure  of  admiration 
might  have  been  paid  to  him  if  he  had  kept  his  tongue 
still,  and  had  been  simply  observed  by  an  assembly  of 
persons,  walking  through  the  aisles  of  a  deliberative  hall, 
just  as  persons  would  admire  a  beautiful  race -horse  in 
coursing  his  way  majestically  through  the  streets  of  a  town. 
And  their  admiration  would  be  excited  in  a  similar  de- 
gree by  observing  the  same  engaging  animal  posting  his 
way  with  the  speed  of  thought  over  a  race-course.  But  the 
spectators  would  not  be  so  perfectly  blinded  by  the  symmet- 
rical beauty  and  elegance  of  the  race-horse,  as  to  be  beguiled 
into  the  belief,  when  seeing  him  on  a  race-path  with  a  shabby 
and  diminutive  one  splitting  the  wind  a  great  distance  ahead 
of  him,  that  the  latter  was  beating  the  small  one. 

It  may  be  truly  said  that  those  attractions  of  person  which 
draw  a  special  share  of  attention  to  a  speaker  when  he  is  dis- 
coursing, usually  emanjite  from  graces  and  blandishments 
which  are  thrown  around  his  person  by  the  cultivation  of  the 


A  FINE  PERSON".  293 

intellect.  For  if  you  strip  a  very  elegant  and  beautiful 
speaker  of  the  blessing  of  intelligence  and  of  that  finish 
which  art  throws  around  the  manner,  and  reduce  him  to  that 
appearance  of  awkwardness  and  ignorance  which  is  generally 
manifested  by  illiterate  and  ignorant  speakers,  so  far  from 
the  beauty  of  such  a  speaker  operating  as  a  stimulus  to  ad- 
miration, it  will  make  him  an  object  of  decided  commisera- 
tion. And  it  is  very  certain  that  a  speaker  of  the  most  di- 
minutive and  ungainly  form,  whose  elocution  breathes  the 
soul  of  eloquence,  and  whose  manner  in  speaking  is  adorned 
with  the  graces  of  art  will  attract  an  attention  to  his  ac- 
quired graces,  which  entirely  excludes  the  perception  of  his 
personal  defects  and  deformities. 

We  believe  that  speakers  and  all  other  conspicuous  and 
responsible  actors  on  the  public  stage,  are  appreciated  in  their 
professional  characters,  for  the  positive  amount  of  good  which 
they  may  be  competent  to  perform.  And  we  also  cherish  the 
opinion  that  deformities  of  person  by  being  contrasted  with 
the  transcendent  powers  of  a  speaker's  intellect,  may  inure 
very  greatly  to  his  advantage  in  the  public  estimation  of 
him.  We  think  the  truth  of  the  preceding  proposition  is 
fully  realized  in  some  of  the  examples  which  have  been  pre- 
sented in  this  chapter,  and  we  also  believe  that  attestations 
of  its  truthfulness  are  continually  unfolding  themselves  to  the 
public  view  in  every  successive  year  which  is  added  to  the 
history  of  the  world. 


294  DECLAIMING  BEFORE  A  MIEROR. 


CHAPTER    LXXXII 

THE  BENEFIT  WHICH   MAY   BE  I>EEIVED   FROM   PEAC?nCING   DECLAMATION 
BEFORE   A   MIRROR. 

It  is  an  encouraging  fact  in  the  philosophy  of  the  human  face 
divine,  that  there  are  many  countenances  which  possess  the 
capability  of  imbibing  a  degree  of  expressiveness  from  the  re- 
flections of  a  mirror,  which  they  never  reciprocate  by  defining 
beautiful  images  on  the  bright  surface  of  the  mirror  in  return. 
And  there  is  no  solid  reason  why  this  should  not  be  so.  The 
most  fascinating  expressions  of  loveliness  which  play  upon 
the  cheek  of  female  beauty,  are  often  transplanted  from  the 
transient  shadow  of  sweetness  which  is  painted  upon  the  sur- 
face of  a  looking  glass.  And  if  a  soul  of  celestial  sweetness 
may  be  transfused  into  the  countenance  of  a  female,  so  as  to 
become  habitual,  by  practicing  fme  expressions  of  face  before 
a  mirror,  it  would  seem  inexplicable  why  a  speaker  might 
not  extend  the  catalogue  of  his  graces,  both  in  reference  to 
the  action  of  the  person  and  the  expressions  of  the  counte- 
nance, by  frequently  speaking  before  a  mirror. 

Any  person  who  is  fond  of  performing  on  an  instrument 
of  any  description,  may  acquire  a  tune  he  fancies  simply  by 
a  close  observation  of  its  notes  when  some  other  individual 
shall  be  playing  it.  One  who  delights  in  dancing,  catches  a 
graceful  step  from  giving  a  few  moments  of  attention  to  an- 
other who  practices  that  step  in  the  mazes  of  a  dancing  party* 
Another  who  becomes  favorably  impressed  with  the  elegant 
carriage  of  an  acquaintance,  can,  by  practice,  make  the  move- 
ments his  own  which  he  so  much  admires.  Successful  com- 
edians, by  persevering  attention  to  properties  of  the  kind, 
become  so  expert  as  to  be  able  habitually  to  command  all 
the  droll  expressions  of  countenance,  voice,  or  maimer,  which 


DECLAIMING  BEFORE  A  MIRROR.  295 

they  observe  in  persons  who  are  circulating  around  them. 
And  these  acquisitions  are  made  in  most  instances,  too,  with- 
out an  appeal  to  the  mirror. 

Tt  would  appear  exceedingly  strange  that  a  person  should 
not  be  competent  to  paint  more  vividly  upon  his  countenance, 
before  a  mirror,  those  engaging  expressions  which  a  large 
proportion  of  both  sexes  very  frequently  command,  without 
any  appeal  whatever  to  glassy  aids. 

It  is  by  the  recognition  of  a  beautiful  expression  or  a  grace- 
ful movement,  clearly  and  specifically  defined  in  the  face  or 
person  of  another,  that  the  type  or  model  of  the  desirable 
quality  is  provided,  from  a  sincere  devotion  to  which  the 
person  observing  it  will  be  enabled  to  acquire  it  and  make 
it  his  own.  Without  having  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  observ- 
ing an  image,  a  charming  expression  of  countenance,  or  a  grace- 
ful movement  of  the  person,  revealed  to  him  in  some  form 
or  embodiment,  an  actor  or  speaker  could  no  more  be  com- 
petent to  interweave  such  floating  expressions  and  grades  with 
his  own  countenance  or  person,  than  an  artist  would  be  ade- 
quate to  the  task  of  inseating  in  a  picture  tints  and  beauties 
which  he  had  never  conceived  by  the  sight  of  the  eye,  and  a 
description  of  which  had  been  merely  communicated  to  him 
verbally  by  some  acquaintance  of  his. 

The  great  feature  of  efficiency  in  the  practice  of  speaking 
before  a  mirror,  consists  not  in  the  simple  capacity  to  indulge 
in  a  fascinating  expression  of  the  countenance,  or  to  execute  a 
graceful  gesture  of  the  hands  in  front  of  it,  but  in  the  power  of 
maintaining  the  expression  or  gesture  in  a  perfect  condition 
some  moments  after  either  shall  have  been  brought  into  being. 
For  the  mere  fact  of  execution  would  effect  nothing  without 
an  adjunct  of  some  sort  to  sustain  it  in  being.  The  desired 
gesture  or  expression  without  the  benefit  of  some  intelligible 
medium  of  observation  through  which  to  observe  them, 
might  vanish  in  the  very  act  of  being  made,  like  the  foam 
on  the  fountain  or  the  ripple  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 


296  DECLAIMING  BEFOKE  A  MIKROR. 

But  when  the  expression  or  gesture  is  distinctly  surveyed 
in  an  accurate  and  faithful  mirror,  the  speaker  knows  by  the 
report  of  his  own  vision  what  degree  of  exertion  and  what 
sort  of  exertion  to  adopt,  in  order  to  sustain  the  expression 
or  movement  in  being  for  a  due  length  of  time. 

A  person  who  has  acquired  a  respectable  knowledge  of 
actions  and  expressions  of  the  countenance,  can  benefit  a 
practitioner  in  elocution  very  considerably,  by  supervising 
the  expressions  of  his  countenance  and  the  action  of  his 
hands  when  he  is  speaking,  and  by  imparting  to  him  faithful 
counsels  in  regard  to  the  correctness  of  every  movement  he 
makes,  just  as  it  may  be  made.  By  a  vigilant  and  faithful 
superintendence  of  this  sort,  some  of  the  most  efficient  speak- 
ers and  successful  dramatists  known  to  the  world,  have  been 
perfected. 

If  a  speaker  shall  have  acquired  any  conceptions  of  ex- 
pression, time,  and  motion,  which  may  even  faintly  approxi- 
mate correctness,  wliy  may  he  not,  by  practising  expression, 
gesticulation,  and  time  before  a  mirror,  so  habituate  himself 
to  the  production  of  each  of  these  properties  in  the  proper 
measure,  before  a  mirror,  as  to  be  enabled  to  execute  them 
with  facility,  in  the  course  of  time,  without  the  aid  of  the 
glass. 

It  is  said  in  the  Bible,  that  a  man  looks  in  a  glass  and 
straightway  forgets  what  kind  of  man  he  is.  But  if  the  im- 
age,  defined  on  his  memory  by  the  glass,  disappears  imme- 
diately on  his  leaving,  it  is  a  very  different  thing  with  any 
determination  which  has  been  communicated  to  his  charac- 
ter and  manners  by  any  course  of  action  and  expression  long 
practised  before  the  glass.  This  may  adhere  to  him  like 
the  complexion  of  his  skin  or  the  color  of  his  hair. 

But  the  best  evidence  of  the  advantages  which  may  be 
derived  from  the  habit  of  practising  before  a  mirror,  may  be 
recognized  in  the  fact,  that  a  very  respectable  proportion  of 
those  who  delight  and  edify  the  world  in  the  capacity  of 


DECLAIMING  BEFOEE  A  MIEEOR.  297 

speakers,  have  magnified  their  influence  in  the  exercise  of 
that  accomplishment  by  practising  before  a  mirror.  This 
fact  in  the  history  of  any  particular  speaker,  may  but  seldom 
reach  the  general  treasury  of  human  information.  When  a 
knowledge  of  this  peculiar  mode  of  exercise,  in  connection 
with  any  person  devoted  to  speaking,  obtains  currency,  it  is 
generally  introduced  to  the  world  through  the  medium  of 
some  person  who  enjoys  a  constant  communion  of  friendship 
with  the  speaker,  or  who  may  accidentally  discover  the  prac- 
tice. 

Without  assuming  to  decide  that  the  discipline  imposed 
upon  a  speaker  by  habitually  practising  before  a  mirror,  is 
at  all  essential  to  his  perfection  in  oratory,  the  opinion  may 
be  safely  advanced,  that  the  practice  may  be  adopted  with  the 
promise  of  deriving  very  considerable  advantages  from  it. 
Persons  who  take  much  pleasure  in  mimicking  the  peculiar  ex- 
pressions of  face  which  they  see  sometimes  exhibited  by  their 
acquaintances  and  neighbors,  by  habitually  indulging  them- 
selves in  these  particular  expressions,  contrary  to  their  design, 
sometimes  have  them  so  inlaid  and  blended  in  their  own  coun 
tenances  that  they  are  never  able  to  obtain  a  deliverance  from 
them  afterwards.  If  a  person,  by  simply  imitating  the  move- 
ments and  expressions  of  countenance  of  another,  without 
any  chart  to  guide  him  to  correctness  in  the  operation,  can 
succeed  so  effectually  as  to  blend  the  expressions  which  he 
copies  permanently  with  his  own  countenance ;  it  would  seem 
not  to  be  very  unnatural  or  credulous  to  believe  that  a 
speaker,  by  continually  repeating  before  a  mirror  the  pro- 
duction of  certain  expressions  in  his  own  countenance ;  and 
certain  motions  with  his  own  hands,  could  succeed  at  length 
in  producing  these  motions  and  expressions  at  pleasure.  If 
these  expressions  and  motions  shall  be  produced  in  great 
frequency  before  a  mirror,  the  muscles  about  the  face 
will  contract  a  mechanical  tendency  towards  producing  the 
same  expressions  and  gestures  on  other  occasions.     They 

13* 


298  EXERCISES  IN  COMPOSITION. 

may  perhaps  make  their  appearance  spontaneously,  and  when 
the  speaker  may  not  desire  their  presence. 

And  if  a  speaker  is  characterized  by  an  expression  of 
countenance  which  is  repulsive,  gloomy,  or  indicative  of  an- 
ger or  ill-nature,  there  can  be  no  better  method  adopted  for 
the  removal  of  these  unprepossessing  expressions  than  prac- 
tising before  a  mirror.  For  if  a  speaker  shall,  in  declaim- 
ing before  a  mirror,  discipline  his  countenance  to  a  frequent 
expression  of  joy  and  benevolence,  these  expressions  will, 
in  the  course  of  time,  mechanically  preside  over  his  face 
when  engaged  in  the  business  of  speaking. 


CHAPTER    LXXXIII. 

THE  DAILY  PRACTICB  OF  -WRITING  AN  ESSAY   ON   SOME  SUBJECT,  COXSIDERBD. 

It  was  once  remarked  by  an  enlightened  expounder  of  the 
Gospel,  who  has  long  since  passed  from  the  theatre  of  his 
earthly  labors  to  a  brighter  scene  of  existence,  "that 'there 
was  no  duty  assigned  to  man  which  was  performed  by  him 
with  a  measure  of  reluctance  so  utterly  disproportioned  to 
the  amount  of  labor  involved  in  it  as  that  of  prayer."  The 
same  proposition  may  be  justly  affirmed  in  relation  to  the 
exercise  of  writing,  for  the  labor  involved  in  it  is  neither  op- 
pressive nor  irksome,  and  yet  the  repugnance  to  its  perform- 
ance in  most  cases,  is  without  any  visible  bounds. 

A  disrelish  for  that  species  of  labor  which  is  intimately 
blended  with  the  most  important  duties  and  precious  inter- 
ests of  man,  it  should  be  the  unceasing  ambition  of  every 
person  to  vanquish,  who  may  covet  the  accomplishment  of 
expressing  himself  with  accuracy  and  neatness,  both  in  speech 
and  in  writing.     And  there  is  no  corrective  for  the  repug- 


EXEKCISES  IN  COMPOSITION.  299 

nance  in  question,  which  may  be  resorted  to  with  a  larger 
measure  of  success  or  efficacy,  than  the  daily  practice  of 
writing  down  on  paper  a  person's  thoughts  on  some  subject 
which  may  have  previously  engrossed  a  portion  of  his  re 
flections.  No  member  of  human  society  who  possesses  the 
faculty  of  writing,  it  matters  not  what  his  pursuit  in  life 
may  be,  should  permit  a  day  to  elapse  without  subjecting  his 
mind  to  this  discipline ;  and  an  essay  which  may  cover  a 
half  sheet  of  ordinary  letter-paper,  will  accomplish  the  ob- 
jects here  aimed  at,  as  well  as  one  which  may  occupy  a 
larger  number  of  pages. 

A  frequent  indulgence  in  the  act  of  composing  is  not 
pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  pupil  simply  for  the  pur- 
pose of  placing  securely  within  his  grasp,  the  faculty  of  un- 
usual expertness  in  writing.  Even  the  consummation  of  that 
object  would  be  of  itself  no  trifling  achievement.  But  im- 
portant as  would  be  the  attainment  of  that  point,  it  is  in- 
definitely surpassed  in  intrinsic  value,  by  that  permanent 
habituation  to  mental  labor,  that  prompt  and  lucid  arrange- 
ment of  thought,  and  that  admirable  precision  and  perspicu- 
ity of  expression,  which  almost  uniformly  flow  as  legitimate 
fruits  from  the  daily  practice  of  composition  to  a  susceptible 
mind. 

By  the  constant  expenditure  of  thought  which  is  inevitably 
produced  by  the  practice  of  intelligent  writing,  the  human 
mind  is  accelerated  in  the  flow  of  its  thoughts,  just  in  the 
same  way  that  the  human  heart  when  long  practiced  in  yield- 
ing its  devotion  to  the  alleviation  of  human  suffering  in  the 
social  sphere  within  which  it  throbs,  is  ready  to  cast  its  char- 
ities upon  every  other  circle  in  which  it  may  be  startled  by 
the  wail  of  misery. 

The  principle  of  aversion  to  labor  of  every  description 
will  be  vastly  diminished  by  a  daily  participation  in  the 
practice  of  composition.  Business  in  its  varied  forms  will 
be  more  punctually  and  methodically  performed.     The  in- 


300  EXERCISES  IN  COMPOSITION. 

terests  of  society  will  be  more  efficiently  advocated  either 
in  speaking  or  in  writing,  by  the  votary  of  this  practice,  than 
they  otherwise  would  have  been.  Many  precious  thoughts 
may  glitter  in  the  literary  pages  of  the  country,  which  might 
have  been  otherwise  consigned  to  hopeless  oblivion ;  and  the 
general  powers  of  the  intellect  will  be  vastly  augmented. 

As  intellectual  discipline  is  the  object  principally  sought 
in  adopting  the  exercise  of  composing  as  a  daily  practice,  it 
matters  little  what  the  subject  may  be,  on  which  the  student 
may  write  an  essay,  so  it  be  an  innocent  topic.  And  let 
him  not  plead  in  bar  to  the  performance  of  this  duty  the 
usual  plea  of  sloth,  the  want  of  opportunities,  for  these  are 
never  exhausted  except  by  those  disabilities  which  are  im- 
posed by  disease  or  by  the  blighting  calamities  which  ocea- 
sionally  descend  like  lightning  on  those  who  may  be  endeared 
to  the  heart  by  the  ties  of  friendship  or  kindred  blood.  A 
determined  mind  will  be  enabled  to  snatch  an  opportunity 
for  writing  a  brief  essay  on  some  familiar  subject,  even 
amidst  the  whiz,  din,  and  bustle  of  steamboat  travel,  or  at 
the  stopping  points  on  a  stage  road.  A  very  small  fraction 
of  the  time  which  may  be  devoted  so  some  trashy  author  or 
expended  in  very  improductive  conversation  on  board  of  a 
steamboat,  would  be  sufficient  for  the  composition  of  an 
essay  which  would  preserve  unbroken  the  chain  of  the  stu- 
dent's mental  discipline,  and  perhaps  draw  forth  from  his 
mind  a  flow  of  precious  thoughts  which  he  might  not  be 
willing  perhaps  to  exchange  for  the  wealth  of  the  East. 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  EIVALRY.  801 


CHAPTER    LXXXIV. 

THE   INFLUENCE   EXERTED   BY    COMPETITION   ON   THE   ENERGIES    OF    A 
SPEAKER. 

The  creative  influence  of  the  principle  of  competition  has 
been  broadly  revealed  in  the  varied  fields  of  human  aspira- 
tion and  adventure  in  every  age  of  the  world.  It  is  that 
spring  of  life  and  of  energy  from  which  young  and  fervid  am- 
bition draws  its  strength  and  support,  in  a  line  of  transmis- 
sion just  as  direct  as  that  which  conveys  the  nutriment  of 
life  from  the  maternal  bosom  to  the  lips  of  feeble  and  con- 
fiding infancy.  When  this  spring  is  drained  of  its  inspiring 
draughts,  the  soaring  heart  of  early  ambition  languishes  and 
withers  like  the  verdant  leaf  of  spring  under  the  influence 
of  a  nipping  frost.  Without  the  stimulus  of  rivalship  to  ex- 
cite him  in  the  path  of  glory,  the  arms  of  a  soldier  become 
as  impotent  and  harmless  as  the  birchen  rods  which  may  be 
wielded  by  some  antique  governor  of  a  nursery. 

Without  the  incentive  provided  by  rivalship,  the  arm  of 
heroism  becomes  relaxed,  the  tongue  of  the  orator  becomes 
stiff*,  the  ethereal  aspiration  of  the  statesman  is  quenched,  the 
enterprise  of  commerce  is  chilled,  the  ingenuity  of  mechan- 
ism is  blunted,  the  fields  of  agriculture  become  waste,  the 
searching  vision  of  science  becomes  dim,  and  the  inspiration 
of  literature  becomes  extinct.  But  in  the  extended  cata- 
logue of  human  aspirations,  which  may  be  paralyzed  or  ex- 
tinguished by  an  absence  of  the  spirit  of  rivalship,  there  is 
not  one  which  carries  the  symptoms  of  its  fatality  so  visibly 
painted  upon  its  progress,  as  the  thirst  for  oratorical  renown. 
It  matters  but  little  how  enchanting  the  opening  prospects  of 
a  beginner  in  oratory  may  be.  It  matters  not  how  rapidly 
his  intellectual  powers  may  be  expanding.     It  matters  not 


302        THE  INFLUENCE  OF  RIVALRY. 

how  fervid  the  appeals  addressed  to  his  pride  from  the  voice 
of  kindred  or  social  affection,  may  be :  whenever  the  spur 
of  competition  is  withdrawn  from  that  field  in  which  a  ju- 
venile speaker  is  destined  to  labor ;  from  that  moment  he  is 
doomed  to  decline  in  his  advancement  and  to  verge  towards 
a  changeless  mediocrity  in  the  department  of  eloquence. 

Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow,  being  once  interrogated  by  an 
honest  and  simple-hearted  father,  as  to  the  best  means  of 
making  a  lawyer  of  his  son,  the  Lord  Chancellor  replied, 
"  Let  your  son,  in  the  first  place,  spend  his  own  estate,  then 
let  him  get  married  and  spend  his  wife's  estate,  and  he  will 
be  certain  to  make  a  lawyer !"  The  philosophy  contained 
in  the  reply  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  was,  that  a  beginner  in 
the  legal  profession  required  a  vigorous  application  of  the  spur 
of  necessity  to  his  energies  to  impel  him  to  that  regularly- 
sustained  and  persevering  exertion,  which  alone  would  make 
him  eminent  in  his  profession,  and  that  the  spur  in  question 
could  never  be  supplied  so  long  as  young  members  of  the 
bar  should  be  surrounded  with  an  affluence  of  means. 

The  philosophy  contained  in  the  advice  of  Lord  Thurlow, 
is  highly  applicable  to  cases  where  fame,  and  not  money  may 
be  the  coveted  prize  of  a  young  man's  ambition.  K  he  may 
be  prosecuting  his  professional  labors  in  a  place  in  which  he 
at  once  takes  a  position  greatly  more  elevated  as  a  speaker 
than  that  of  his  brethren  of  the  bar  who  move  in  the  same 
circle  with  himself,  his  ambition  to  rise  higher  in  the  scale 
of  excellence  as  a  speaker  will  be  very  apt  to  languish  and 
decay,  from  the  want  of  that  sustaining  nutriment  which  will 
be  unfailingly  supplied  by  the  spirit  of  competition.  If  he 
can,  at  the  very  starting  point,  master  and  subdue  his  fellow 
members  in  the  contentions  of  debate,  there  is  no  necessity 
acting  upon  his  energies  to  propel  him  forward,  except  the 
abstract  fondness  for  excellence,  and  that  is  rather  too  specu- 
lative in  its  character  to  induce  a  very  liberal  yield  of  prac- 
tical fruit.    Why  is  this  so  ?    Simply  because  there  is  noth- 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  RIVALKY.  803 

ing  in  the  accomplishments  of  those  who  move  around  him 
to  warm  his  pride  of  intellect  into  brisk  circulation.  He  is 
superior  to  them  all,  at  the  very  commencement,  in  all  those 
aggi;andizing  traits  of  character  which  chiefly  attract  the  at- 
tention of  the  world,  and  there  is  no  person  within  his  reach 
in  the  department  of  speaking  whose  level  as  a  public  speak- 
er he  has  either  to  reach  or  to  pass  beyond.  He  will  be  in 
the  same  condition  within  the  narrow  domain  of  his  ambi- 
tion, that  Alexander  the  Great  was  in,  on  the  expanded  field 
of  his  aspirations,  when  "  he  grieved  at  having  no  more  king- 
doms to  conquer."  He  is  esteemed  more  highly  for  his 
powers  as  a  speaker  than  other  young  men  who  come  in  con- 
tact with  him,  and  he  will  suppose  that  he  has  nothing  to 
contend  for.  He  will  conceive  that  the  summit  of  glory  in 
the  little  circle  in  which  he  lives  and  moves  is  the  acme  of 
glory  throughout  the  world.  The  approbation  which  descends 
from  the  lips  of  the  hoary  fathers  there^  will  have  a  solid 
value  and  a  precision  of  accuracy  which  it  will  possess  no- 
where else  beneath  the  stars.  The  applause  of  the  venerable 
matrons  will  distil  a  soothing  influence  into  the  heart,  which 
the  same  gratification  could  impart  nowhere  else,  and  the 
note  of  praise  from  the  lips  of  virgin  beauty  will  insinuate 
a  music  into  the  heart  which  could  be  afforded  nowhere  else 
under  the  sun. 

Let  other  aspirants  to  renown,  in  the  department  of  foren- 
sic eloquence,  be  located  in  the  same  circle  with  the  young 
speaker  whom  we  have  just  supposed,  and  if  the  latter 
should  possess  any  latent  or  intrinsic  powers  to  be  unfold- 
ed, these  will  certainly  receive  an  abiding  impulse  from  the 
constant  action  of  the  spirit  of  competition,  which  will  quick- 
en them  into  a  state  of  active  progression.  He  may  not, 
agreeably  to  Lord  Thurlow's  requisition  (to  make  a  lawyer), 
have  expended  his  money,  but  the  star  of  his  intellectual 
ascendency  has  set  for  a  term  in  that  circle  within  which  his 
pride  and  his  hopes  were  accustomed  to  centre,  and  with 


804       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  RIVALRY. 

that  ascendency  his  soothing  self-complacency  has  vanished 
like  the  transient  dews  of  the  morning. 

Let  a  young  aspirant  to  oratorical  fame  be  placed  at  a  lo- 
cality where  he  will  be  hailed  as  the  chief  orator  of  a  large 
tract  of  country-.  Let  him  be  freed  from  the  presence  of 
every  speaker  who  would  constitute  an  irksome  competitor 
to  him  on  the  theatre  of  disputation,  and  let  him  be  con- 
stantly soothed  by  the  approving  smile  of  age,  and  charmed 
by  the  touching  smile  of  beauty,  and  his  heart  will  be  full — 
his  ambition  will  be  lulled  into  a  state  of  serene  and  quiet 
repose — he  is  presented  with  no  fresh  fields  for  conquest,  and 
he  would  not  exchange  his  bright  and  blushing  honors  for 
the  diadem  and  the  purple. 

A  distinguished  citizen  of  the  United  States  once  remark- 
ed, "  that  great  men  were  made  by  great  occasions."  There 
is  nothing  more  true  than  that  observation,  and  it  included 
within  its  sweep  the  identical  principle  which  we  are  now  en- 
deavoring to  enforce.  For  the  occasions  to  which  the  re- 
mark before  us  referred,  were  those  collisions  between  gifted 
men  which  bring  into  full  exercise  and  play  the  faculties  of 
the  mind  ;  which  impose  upon  the  mental  energies  that  sort 
of  pressure  which  causes  the  innate  principle  of  power,  where 
it  has  a  residence  in  any  particular  system,  to  expand  and  to 
reach  an  elastic  sort  of  force  which  it  never  would  attain 
without  pressure.  What  destiny  would  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
ever  have  reached  in  the  obscure  shades  of  Corsica  ?  What 
height  of  elevation  would  Lord  Mansfield  ever  have  attain- 
ed had  he  remained  amongst  the  romantic  hills  of  Scotland  1 
What  degree  of  space  would  Patrick  Henry  have  ever  earned 
in  the  world's  estimation,  had  he  remained  in  some  obscure 
provincial  village  or  neighborhood,  where  a  thrilling  blast 
from  the  trump  of  keen  competition  would  never  have  been 
heard,  to  spur  him  onward  in  the  path  of  exertion  ? 

There  is  scarcely  an  instance  recorded  in  the  annals  of  de- 
bate, where  a  speaker  of  acknowledged  celebrity,  commenced 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  RIVALRY.  805 

and  ended  life  in  a  part  of  the  world  where  his  energies  could 
not  receive  a  rousing  impulse  from  the  contact  of  powerful 
competition  in  the  contentions  of  political  or  forensic  strife. 
A  fresh  traveller  in  the  walks  of  professional  life,  without  com- 
petition, has  no  stem  necessity  imposed  upon  him  to  force 
him  into  the  labors  of  acquisition  ;  he  has  nothing  to  do  to 
keep  himself  from  being  crushed  by  the  incumbent  weight 
of  a  superior  mental  force — he  has  no  contentions  with  supe- 
rior minds  to  engage  in,  which  will  sharpen  and  develop  his 
powers  of  thought  and  of  debate — ^he  is  precisely  in  the  same 
condition  with  a  swordsman,  who  may  be  destitute  of  the 
benefit  of  an  opponent  to  contend  with,  who  would  both  pre- 
serve the  previous  acquisitions  of  the  man  of  steel,  and  ex- 
tend the  circle  of  his  improvement  in  future.  In  such  a  sit- 
uation, the  progress  of  a  speaker  towards  perfection  must 
be  inevitably  suspended,  like  that  of  every  other  votary  of 
intellectual  duties,  who  has  nothing  but  the  abstract  love  of 
excellence  to  spur  him  onward. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  what  course  is  a  young  man 
to  adopt,  who  happens  to  be  located  in  a  part  of  the  world 
in  which  he  cannot  receive  the  reviving  touch  of  rivalry  or 
competition  to  develop  his  powers  as  a  debater  ?  The  answer 
is,  let  him  seek  some  locality  in  which  he  will  find  competi- 
tors worthy  of  his  steel.  Let  him  repair  to  some  place 
where  he  will  become  perfected  in  the  art  of  speaking,  as 
swordsmen  are  rendered  expert  in  the  sword  exercise,  by  a 
constant  tension  of  the  faculties  in  struggles  with  able  intel- 
ligences. 


306  POETICAL  QUOTATIONS. 


CHAPTER    LXXXV. 

THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   POETICAL   QUOTATIONS    INTO    A   SPEECH. 

There  is  in  the  morning  of  life  a  prevailing  predilection 
for  poetical  decorations  amongst  speakers  and  essayists  of 
every  description,  who  possess  either  an  exuberant  fancy,  or 
a  taste  for  elegant  literature.  This  is  an  innocent  partiality 
wherever  found,  and  it  may  be  rendered,  by  receiving  a  meas- 
ure of  discreet  indulgence,  not  only  highly  improving  to  the 
ornamental  department  of  composition  and  speaking,  but  it 
may  also  serve  to  augment  the  utility  and  efficiency  of  the 
strictly  practical  duties  of  a  public  speaker. 

A  poetical  fragment,  rich  in  the  philosophy  of  life,  may 
secure  a  welcome  abode  in  the  mind  of  an  audience  for  un- 
pleasant propositions,  just  as  the  leaden  messengers  of  death, 
which  whistle  on  every  breeze  during  an  action,  are  fre- 
quently disarmed  of  their  terrific  influence  by  the  animating 
strains  of  some  national  air.  The  sweet  and  touching  inspir- 
ation of  the  poet  takes  that  place  in  the  mind  of  the  audi- 
ence which  may  have  been  previously  devoted  to  the  occu- 
pancy of  truths  excessively  nauseating  in  their  character,  and 
when  the  spectral  influences  which  hang  upon  the  voice  of 
the  speaker  are  once  expelled  by  the  soothing  charm  of  poetic 
music,  they  never  again  return  in  the  plenitude  of  their  su- 
premacy. 

How  often  has  a  string  of  sympathy  been  successfully 
touched  in  the  hearts  of  an  audience,  by  the  introduction  of 
a  beautiful  poetical  passage,  when  they  had  been  previously 
muttering  the  bitterest  maledictions  against  the  speaker,  or 
praying  for  a  speedy  close  to  his  address !  How  frequently 
are  irksome  and  tedious  arguments  stripped  of  every  repul- 
sive feature,  by  being  closed  with  the  bre-ath  of  poetic  inspir- 


POETICAL  QUOTATIONS.  807 

ation,  just  as  the  dying  notes  of  the  swan,  agreeably  to  fabu- 
lous tradition,  are  said  to  be  its  sweetest ! 

If  the  poetical  quotation  at  the  close  of  a  speech  be  rich 
in  language,  replete  with  sense,  warm  with  the  spirit  of  ro- 
mance, and  highly  colored  with  that  philosophy  of  nature 
which  is  certain  to  find  a  magnetic  reciprocation  in  every 
human  breast,  the  speaker  and  his  speech  will  be  all  forgot- 
ten in  the  beauties  of  the  music. 

What  a  large  number  of  the  speeches  which  have  been  de- 
livered on  the  varied  stages  of  life,  have  completely  faded 
from  the  memory,  with  the  exception  of  some  poetical  deco- 
ration, which  charmed  the  closing  sentence.  If,  when  a  speech 
or  address  of  any  description  may  be  in  progress,  the  speaker 
shall  blend  with  his  discourse  a  sweet  note  of  music,  drawn 
from  the  inspiration  of  some  poet  who  may  be  dear  to  the 
hearts  of  his  audience,  and  who  may  also  abound  in  sym- 
pathies with  breathing  flesh,  the  poetical  passage  will  distil  a 
sort  of  moral  perfume  both  upon  the  speech,  the  speaker,  and 
the  occasion.  The  audience  will,  under  such  circumstances, 
feel  greatly  indebted  to  the  speaker  for  freshening  up  in 
their  minds  and  memories  an  image  of  a  favorite  poet,  or  a 
favorite  image  of  a  poet,  which  is  perhaps  rapidly  fading 
from  their  recollection. 

There  is  something  infinitely  dear  to  some  hearts  in  the  pro- 
ductions of  particular  poets.  In  some  instances,  the  poem  is 
endeared  by  touching  associations  connected  with  the  charac- 
ter and  life  of  the  poet,  which  are  vividly  brought  up  from 
the  scenes  of  the  past,  along  with  the  passage  which  may  be 
quoted  by  the  speaker.  On  other  occasions,  the  tenderness 
breathed  by  the  fragment  itself  touches  the  heart  of  an  audi- 
ence. We  find,  on  consulting  the  experience  of  acquaintances, 
in  some  other  instances,  that  their  hearts  have  been  tenderly 
affected  by  a  poetical  quotation,  when  brought  to  their  atten- 
tion, in  speaking  or  in  conversation,  by  a  recurrence  to  the 
tender  emotions  which  were  imparted  to  their  breasts  on 


808  POETICAL  QUOTATIONS. 

first  hearing  the  works  of  the  author  of  the  particular  frag- 
ment read  in  their  hearing  early  in  life.  They  are  not  touch- 
ed so  much  by  the  tenderness  of  the  particular  passage,  as 
by  its  calling  up  to  the  memory,  by  its  introduction,  a  work 
which  had  been  endeared  long  since  for  some  engaging  fea- 
tures. Just  as  if  a  lovely  member  of  the  softer  sex  should 
present  an  ardent  admirer  of  hers  a  beautiful  flower  on 
some  occasion,  accompanied  with  a  most  bewitching  express- 
ion  of  the  countenance ;  the  same  admirer  could  not  behold 
one  of  the  same  class  of  flowers,  at  a  period  of  time  greatly 
removed  from  that  at  which  the  incident  occurred,  without 
having  that  scene  painted  afresh  upon  the  tablets  of  the 
heart,  in  all  its  power  of  effect. 

When  a  speaker  is  exceedingly  felicitous  in  the  choice  of 
a  poetical  quotation,  it  may  serve  not  only  to  embellish  and 
adorn,  but  it  may  also  augment  the  practical  properties  of 
his  argument.  If  a  speaker  shall  succeed  in  gracing  his  ar- 
gument with  one  of  those  poetical  diamonds  which  compre- 
hends the  very  essence  of  the  philosophy  of  life,  the  very  per- 
fection of  that  deep  and  searching  penetration  into  the  springs 
of  human  action  which  is  possessed  by  some  minds,  it  is  very 
certain  that  a  poetical  passage  of  that  description  will  de- 
scend upon  the  feelings  and  probably  the  judgments  of  an 
audience  with  more  decisive  weight  than  the  most  consum- 
mate argument.  Because  poetical  quotations  of  the  class  to 
which  we  refer,  may  be  regarded  as  truth  in  its  spiritualized 
form.  They  present  truth  and  reason  to  the  mind,  disen- 
cumbered of  the  material  clogs  and  appendages,  in  the  shape 
of  language,  through  which  ideas  are  generally  conveyed  to 
mankind.  The  hearer  of  a  speech,  under  such  circumstances, 
is  not  reduced  as  usual  to  the  labor  of  reflecting  and  of  ex- 
amining the  validity  of  the  proposition  which  shall  be  pre- 
sented to  his  mind.  For  thq  thought  comes  to  him,  in  its 
poetical  or  spiritualized  garb,  with  all  the  force  and  authority 
of  an  axiom. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  LOCALITY.  809 

But  a  speaker  should  use  a  very  sound  and  enlightened 
discretion  in  the  use  of  poetical  quotations.  For  the  intro- 
duction of  poetical  quotations  which  are  utterly  inappropri- 
ate to  the  occasion  on  which  they  are  used,  and  inapplicable 
also  to  the  subject  presented  at  the  time,  will  be  received 
with  the  same  degree  of  contempt  which  usually  marks  the 
use  of  unseasonable  decorations  of  dress. 

And  the  speaker  should  also  vigilantly  guard  against  the 
introduction  of  poetical  quotations  into  an  argument  or  ad- 
dress which  have  become  stale  and  hackneyed  by  the  long 
use  of  them  in  the  speaking  world.  With  an  intelligent  au- 
dience, quotations  of  this  description  produce  very  much  the 
same  sensations,  when  brought  to  its  attention,  which  is  usu- 
ally produced  in  an  intelligent  congregation  of  persons  by 
seeing  one  suddenly  appear  amongst  them  who  wished  to 
assume  the  air  and  port  of  a  fine  gentleman,,  and  who  was 
yet  arrayed  in  the  cast-off  finery  of  some  neighbor. 


CHAPTER   LXXXVI. 

THE  INFLUENCE  EXERTED  BY  LOCALITY  IN  THE  FORMATION  OF  SPEAKERS. 

The  impression  very  extensively  prevails  that  every  hu- 
man being  is  rendered  the  architect  of  his  fame  and  fortunes 
in  life,  from  the  force  of  some  innate  spring  of  energy  which 
rises  in  his  own  system  to  propel  him  forward  to  ennobling 
and  beneficent  actions.  That  an  individual  is  usually  elevat- 
ed in  the  scale  of  public  consideration  by  the  application  of 
a  well-directed  energy  to  the  business  of  life,  is  an  indisput- 
able proposition.  But  this  energy  itself  must  receive  a 
creative  touch  from  some  influence  or  other  to  start  it  into 
life.  For  without  an  impetus  of  some  kind  to  infuse  into 
it  vigor  and  animation,  the  most  precious  fund  of  energy 


310  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  LOCALITY. 

that  a  beneficent  providence  ever  bestowed  on  man,  may 
slumber  in  the  system  of  its  possessor  in  a  -state  of  supine  in- 
action :  just  as  the  richest  treasures  of  the  Oriental  world  may 
rust  in  the  vault  of  a  capitalist,  from  the  absence  of  enter- 
prises to  attract  them  into  circulation.  The  impulse  which 
warms  the  energies  of  a  human  being  into  successful  circu- 
lation and  action,  is  generally  imparted  by  some  circum- 
stance or  incident  which  may  not,  in  reference  to  the  person 
moved  by  it,  have  been  in  any  degree  the  subject  of  volition 
or  control.  And  there  is  no  accomplishment  or  endowment 
of  man  which  is  more  largely  influenced  in  its  origin  and 
progress  by  the  contact  of  casual  influences  and  circumstance 
than  the  faculty  of  public  speaking. 

Similar  to  a  combustible  train,  which  blazes  into  an  explo- 
sion by  the  application  of  a  flame  to  it,  the  principle  of 
eloquence  has  the  breath  of  life  frequently  infused  into  it  by 
some  incident  of  which  the  person  affected  never  dreamed 
before  its  application  to  his  fortunes.  The  glow  of  ambition 
is  excited  in  the  bosom  of  one  person  who  ascends  to  orator- 
ical renown,  by  casually  hearing  some  display  of  eloquence 
in  early  life,  at  a  popular  meeting.  Another  is  impelled  to 
the  cultivation  of  his  oratorical  powers  by  witnessing  some 
powerful  exhibition  of  forensic  skill  and  eloquence,  and  oth- 
ers are  fired  with  the  thirst  for  oratorical  fame,  amidst  the 
contentions  of  a  juvenile  debating  society. 

But  the  circumstance  which  lends  the  most  potent  of  all 
incentives  to  the  passion  for  oratorical  fame,  is  the  cir- 
cumstance of  living  in  a  place  which  has  acquired  celebrity 
by  possessing  within  its  precincts  a  large  number  of  persons 
distinguished  for  their  eloquence.  This  fact  of  residence  ex- 
erts an  important  share  of  influence  over  the  aspirations  and 
energies  of  a  young  speaker  in  three  aspects  of  the  case ;  he 
observes  a  practical  exhibition  of  tlie  consideration  which  is 
earned  by  the  possession  of  speaking  talents  of  a  high  order, 
he  distinctly  perceives  the  certauity  with  which  perseverance 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  LOCALITY.  311 

may  achieve  for  an  individual  the  most  precious  acquisitions, 
and  he  also  plainly  recognizes  the  impassable  gulf  which  will 
ever  continue  to  intervene  between  him  and  the  eloquent 
men  who  move  in  the  same  society  with  himself,  unless  he 
puts  in  requisition  the  energies  of  a  giant  and  the  patience  of 
a  martyr  to  earn  the  honors  of  that  accomplishment. 

And  the  spirit  which  is  thus  imparted  to  a  place  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  one  resplendent  light  in  it,  appears  in  many  in- 
stances to  be  transmitted  through  successive  generations  of 
men,  raising  up  in  its  progress  bright  and  benignant  stars  in 
the  intellectual  firmament,  until  its  life-giving  inspiration 
shall  be  finally  quenched  by  some  invisible  influence. 

There  is  scarcely  a  State  in  the  American  Union  in  which 
the  systems  of  political  and  social  organization  have  assum- 
ed a  compact  form  under  the  maturing  influence  of  time,  but 
is  distinguished  in  the  presentation  of  localities  conspicuous 
for  the  great  number  of  gifted  speakers  which  reside  in 
them.  Persons  endowed  with  an  ardent  and  susceptible 
mind,  who  may  have  been  born  and  reared  in  places  thus 
distinguished,  are  fired  with  ambition  at  the  very  porch 
of  life,  by  beholding  so  many  shining  examples  before 
them.  And  they  adopt  the  conviction,  that  a  principle  of 
fidelity  to  the  character  of  their  native  scene — a  reverence 
for  the  sanctity  of  parental  affection,  and  a  stern  principle 
of  devotion  to  their  own  characters,  enjoins  upon  them  the 
duty  of  earning  a  conspicuous  place  for  themselves  in  the 
world's  estimation. 

The  philosophy  which  is  comprehended  in  the  proposi- 
tion which  we  are  now  entertaining,  is  familiarly  presented 
in  various  phases  and  divisions  of  life.  The  scion  of  some 
house  distinguished  for  its  revolutionary  honors,  conceives 
that  the  fame  of  his  family  will  be  tarnished  in  his  person, 
unless  courage  and  chivalry  shall  shine  as  conspicuous  ingre- 
dients in  the  formation  of  his  character,  and  he  seizes  the 
lance  and  becomes  the  Quixotic  champion  of  every  local 


812  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  LOCALITY. 

quarrel.  A  stripling  who  feeds  his  father's  flocks  at  the  foot 
of  some  obscure  and  rural  hill,  deserts  his  cherished  pursuit, 
seizes  some  tattered  volume,  climbs  with  persevering  pace 
the  steep  of  classic  renown,  and  becomes  the  scholar  of  his 
country,  on  hearing  the  report,  as  it  is  wafted  upon  the  breeze, 
that  a  young  neighbor  and  associate  has  borne  away  the 
prize  honor  at  some  neighboring  university.  The  soldier  is 
inspired  with  the  soul  of  heroic  daring,  by  hearing  a  stirring 
note  of  the  lion-hearted  bravery  which  has  been  exhibited  on 
some  sanguinary  field  of  strife  by  a  companion  of  earlier 
years.  The  statesman  is  frequently  elevated  to  that  point 
where  he  may  intelligibly  read  his  history  both  in  the  "  eyes 
and  in  the  acts  of  a  nation,"  by  hearing  a  frequent  recitation 
of  the  splendid  conquests  which  have  been  acquired  in  rapid 
succession  on  the  field  of  national  debate  by  some  friend  of 
early  life.  And  the  individual  who  day  by  day  counts  his 
glittering  millions  in  the  solitude  of  the  closet,  was  spurred 
on  perhaps  to  the  very  pinnacle  of  wealth  by  the  vivid  im- 
age which  was  daily  painted  before  his  vision  of  the  lordly 
affluence  that  had  been  suddenly  reached  by  some  fellow- 
laborer  or  school-companion. 

The  blast  of  the  trumpet  of  fame  which  spreads  abroad 
the  aggrandisement  of  some  distant  stranger,  usually  falls  in 
unheeded  sounds  upon  the  human  ear.  It  is  the  proximity 
in  point  of  origin,  the  identity  in  point  of  early  association 
of  him  who  obtains  a  prize  in  the  field  of  enterprise  or  am- 
bition, which  kindles  in  the  young  heart,  not  that  fell  spirit 
which  dragged  angels  down,  but  that  ethereal  and  unquench- 
able glow  which  plumes  the  wing  of  ambition  for  immortal- 
ity. Persons  may  hear  the  reported  success  of  strangers, 
day  after  day,  without  being  roused  from  a  state  of  serene 
repose.  But  let  the  sudden  ascension  to  fame  of  some  young 
friend  bo  announced,  and  the  pulse  of  ambition  is  at  once 
quickened  into  a  restless  state  of  activity,  and  the  torpid 
faculties  are  propelled  into  vigorous  and  animated  play,  just 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  LOCALITY.  813 

as  the  limbs  of  a  cripple  are  rendered  nimble  and  elastic  by 
the  magic  touch  of  some  wonderful  deliverer  in  the  healing 
art. 

It  was  one  of  the  maxims  of  the  French  philosopher 
Eochefoucault,  that  the  self-esteem  of  an  individual  was  en- 
hanced by  the  misfortunes  of  his  friend.  The  morality 
proclaimed  by  the  maxim  of  the  Frenchman  is  very  hideous 
in  its  aspect,  but  agreeably  to  opinions  of  our  race,  which 
prevail  to  a  very  great  extent,  and  which  are  fortified  both 
by  superior  experience  and  attainments,  this  declaration  has 
some  grains  of  truth  intermingled  with  it. 

It  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  credit  the  monstrous 
proposition  that  the  heart  of  a  human  being  could  be  rejoiced 
by  the  crushing  calamities  of  a  friend.  But  we  do  believe 
that  the  heart  must  possess  a  celestial  purity  of  mould  which 
is  not  inflamed  with  a  feverish  thirst  for  the  glories  of  suc- 
cess, much  more  than  it  is  expanded  by  the  raptures  of  joy, 
by  the  report  of  a  neighbor's  sudden  or  special  aggrandize- 
ment. The  feeling  usually  communicated  to  the  human 
heart  by  the  sudden  ascent  of  a  neighbor  to  affluence  or 
fame,  if  translated  into  good  current  English,  would  read 
thus  :  "  OA,  /  would  it  were  otherwise.''''  "  /  would  it  were 
myself  rather  than  Ae."  '•^  I  must  go  and  do  something  to  dis- 
tinguish myself  likewise,  or  I  shall  soon  lose  all  caste  and  con- 
sideration amongst  my  neighbors J^  And  the  most  charming 
relief  which  flits  before  the  imagination  of  one  whose  bosom 
heaves  with  emotions  similar  to  those  just  specified,  is  the 
hope  of  being  able  to  go  and  do  likewise. 

The  influence  which  may  be  exerted  on  the  ambition  and 
energies  of  a  beginner  in  life  by  the  fact  of  being  born  and 
raised  in  a  place  that  abounds  in  eloquent  men,  is  widely 
different  from  that  impetus  which  is  frequently  imparted  to 
slumbering  energies  of  mind  by  the  fact  of  a  debater  being 
frequently  or  constantly  brought  into  collision  with  men 
of  sterling   metal   on  the  various   theatres  of  intellectual 

14 


814  THE  INFLUENCE  OP  LOCALITY. 

contention.  Competition,  in  the  sense  of  the  term  last 
mentioned,  may  develop  the  mental  powers  of  a  speaker, 
and  perfect  his  attractions,  should  it  meet  him  on  any  thea- 
tre of  contention  afforded  by  the  civilized  world ;  it  might 
stimulate  him  to  successful  exertion,  should  it  be  brought  to 
bear  on  him  in  England  or  France,  Germany,  Australia,  or 
any  other  place  which  might  be  infinitely  distant  and  remote 
from  the  scene  of  his  birth.  This  last  is  a  competition  which 
arises  from  the  necessities  of  the  case.  The  speaker  cannot 
be  properly  appreciated  in  the  intellectual  scale,  or  ascend  to 
a  lofty  eminence  as  an  orator,  whilst  others  are  doing  better 
than  himself,  and  eclipsing  him  by  their  superior  radiance. 
By  this  sort  of  competition,  a  professional  man  is  compelled 
to  exert  himself  or  to  sink  under  the  pressure  of  opposing 
mental  forces. 

But  a  person  whose  earliest  vision  is  greeted  by  the  light 
of  day,  in  a  place  where  the  luxuries  of  eloquence  abound 
in  a  measure  of  affluent  abundance,  and  whose  ear  drinks  in 
as  its  earliest  entertainment  the  music  of  eloquence,  may 
have  his  heart  fired  by  the  glow  of  ambition,  before  he  shall 
be  released  from  the  tender  supervision  of  the  nursery.  It 
is  the  spirit  of  the  place  which  penetrates  the  heart  of  a 
speaker  and  conducts  his  faculties  to  perfection  in  the  case 
last  mentioned.  He  drinks  in  the  spirit  of  emulation  from 
the  mother's  breast.  He  catqhes  it  from  every  note  of 
praise  bestowed  on  the  city  orator  which  salutes  his  ear. 
His  bosom  glows  at  every  pageant  in  which  the  oratory  of 
his  native  place  gives  its  music  to  the  world.  And  as  he 
progresses  towards  manhood,  the  desire  to  become  an  ora- 
tor of  celebrity  gradually  fastens  itself  upon  his  heart  so 
firmly  and  tenaciously,  that  when  he  reaches  maturity,  he 
will  find  himself  placed  among  the  promment  speakers  of 
his  country,  from  the  acquired  or  habitual  force  of  feeling 
which  will  have  driven  him  invincibly  and  irresistibly  in  that 
Bpecial  direction. 


THE  MANIA  FOR  SPEAKING.  815 


CHAPTER    LXXXVII. 

THE   MANIA   FOE    SPEAKING. 

There  are  many  young  men,  endowed  with  fine  talents 
and  blessed  with  a  liberal  education,  who  imbibe  the  impress- 
ion at  the  commencement  of  life,  that  they  are  casting  away 
golden  opportunities  unless  they  ascend  in  the  character  of 
speakers  every  stage  which  may  present  itself  to  the  view. 
On  one  occasion,  we  find  a  speaker  of  the  preceding  descrip- 
tion delivering  a  lecture  before  a  literary  association  ;  at  an- 
other, he  is  contending  for  the  palm  of  zeal  with  Father 
Matthew,  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  by  addressing  all  the 
temperance  societies  within  his  reach.  Then  again  we  see 
him  on  the  Masonic  stag«,  addressing  that  accepted  fraternity 
on  the  sanative  principles  which  pertain  to  its  organization  ; 
he  then  pays  a  quota  of  his  respects  to  a  Bible  society,  by 
discoursing  on  the  precious  beauties  which  are  inclosed  with- 
in the  lids  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  sunday-school  does 
not  escape  his  observation  either,  and  we  see  him  frequently 
enlightening  the  managers  of  that  invaluable  institution,  to- 
gether with  their  juvenile  subjects,  on  the  inappreciable  ben- 
efits which  they  enjoy  ;  and  he  reaches  perhaps  the  supreme 
point  of  his  earthly  bliss  and  glory  when  he  addresses  some 
county  political  meeting  on  the  respective  merits  of  two  can- 
didates for  promotion. 

A  person  of  the  character  just  presented,  addresses  every 
meeting  at  which  he  may  be  especially  invited  to  speak,  and 
he  would  consider  himself  guilty  of  a  flagrant  act  of  infidelity 
to  his  own  fame  and  honor,  should  he  fail  to  make  a  profuse 
display  of  his  powers,  whether  invited  or  uninvited,  at  every 
public  meeting  which  may  assemble  within  his  reach.  Such 
a  speaker  will  suppose  that  he  is  rendering  acceptable  ser- 


816  THE    MANIA  FOR  SPEAKING. 

vice  to  his  Creator,  that  he  is  imparting  choice  entertainment 
to  his  neighbors,  that  he  is  elevating  the  standard  of  his 
country's  glory,  and  that  he  is  decking  his  own  brow  with 
laurels  as  unfading  as  the  amaranth,  by  discoursing  on  every 
rostrum  which  is  sufficiently  stable  to  support  the  weight  of 
his  person. 

In  the  vernal  season  of  life,  when  each  sound  that  falls  on 
the  ear  breathes  the  music  of  hope,  and  when  every  open- 
ing prospect  is  arrayed  in  the  bloom  of  coming  felicity,  the 
heart  of  the  young  speaker  beats  with  a  quickened  pulsation 
of  joy  at  every  approaching  opportunity  of  making  a  speech, 
which  smiles  in  the  distance,  vainly  imagining  that  the  circle 
of  his  fame  will  be  extended  as  the  number  of  his  speeches 
shall  be  multiplied.  But  this  is  a  frothy  and  ephemeral  bliss 
which  tantalizes  his  bosom, — which  mantles  high  in  its  in- 
ception,— which  sparkles  and  expires,  leaving  a  painful  void 
in  its  transit.  For  it  is  an  inflexible  law  of  nature,  that 
there  is  no  earthly  entertainment  which  may  be  ministered 
to  the  human  taste  too  often  or  in  a  measure  of  unbounded 
profusion,  without  bringing  the  particular  species  of  enter- 
tainment into  contempt.  Henry  IV.  of  England,  in  the  mem- 
orable rebuke  which  Shakspeare  represents  him  as  having 
given  to  Prince  Henry,  on  the  debasement  of  his  person  by 
vulgar  association,  and  by  constant  exhibition,  has  vividly 
prefigured  the  principle  which  we  here  affirm  to  exist  in  con- 
nection with  public  speaking.    The  King  says  to  the  Prince  : 

"  By  being  seldom  seen,  I  could  not  stir, 
But  like  a  comet,  I  was  wondered  at ; 

Not  an  eye. 

But  is  weary  of  thy  common  sight." 

The  preceding  fragment,  which  presents  within  very  nar- 
'^w  limits  so  much  of  the  simple  philosophy  of  life,  has  been 
distilled  from  the  lips  of  a  royal  father  of  England  by  the 
monurch  of  the  poetical  world.     But  the  existence  of  that 


THE  MANIA  FOR  SPEAKING.  817 

principle  of  decay  which  adheres  to  personal  advantages  or 
accomplishments,  too  much  used,  did  not  die  with  the  fourth 
Henry  of  England ;  it  yet  lives  in  all  its  original  force  and 
vigor,  and  clings  to  all  earthly  possessions. 

The  tendency  of  human  accomplishments  to  depreciate, 
when  displayed  in  a  measure  of  prodigal  liberality,  is  figured 
out  in  the  rapid  decline  of  attractions  which  is  realized  in  the 
most  interesting  of  all  earthly  objects,  a  female  arrayed  in 
the  blended  charms  of  beauty,  grace,  and  loveliness,  by  fre- 
quenting without  any  visible  limitation  the  two-penny  par- 
ties which  occur  in  the  circle  within  which  she  moves. 

We  also  observe  the  perceptible  decline  which  occurs  in 
the  value  of  the  precious  metals,  when  a  sudden  augmenta- 
tion of  the  amount  in  circulation  occurs,  in  any  particular 
State  or  community. 

And  we  recognize  the  foregoing  principle,  too,  in  the  entire 
evaporation  of  the  sweets  of  music,  which  at  first  broke  upon 
the  ear  like  celestial  harmony,  after  it  has  been  yielded  gra- 
tuitously, and  unsought  for  days  in  succession  at  the  corners 
of  the  public  squares  and  exchanges  of  a  city. 

It  is  the  nature  of  every  blessing  and  comfort  of  life  which 
may  be  obtained  without  an  equivalent,  and  without  an  effort 
to  acquire  its  possession  on  the  part  of  a  recipient,  to  be  held 
in  cheap  estimation.  And  if  the  bloom  of  beauty,  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  gold,  the  glare  of  royalty,  and  the  sweetness  of 
music,  are  each  diminished  in  their  power  to  interest  by  be- 
ing extended  in  a  measure  of  superfluous  fulness,  it  cannot 
be  expected  that  oratory  will  experience  an  immunity  from 
the  common  doom  which  is  pronounced  on  all  sublunary  ac- 
complishments in  their  gratuitous  extension  and  excessive 
use. 

The  cliarm  fades  from  the  hero  of  innumerable  bloody 
and  victorious  fields,  when  the  external  badges  of  military 
life,  the  lace,  the  epaulettes,  and  the  plumes,  are  continually 
floating  before  the  public  vision.     And  yet  military  glory  is 


818  THE  MANIA  FOR  SPEAKING. 

one  of  the  most  coveted  possessions  to  which  human  ambi- 
tion may  aspire,  and  it  is  the  most  aggrandizing  and  attrac- 
tive of  all  earthly  ornaments,  when  once  acquired. 

And  on  contemplating  this  question,  the  public  speaker 
will  be  compelled  to  decide  on  it,  as  it  shall  be  presented  to 
him  in  connection  with  the  nature  of  man.  He  has  either 
to  remodel  the  nature  of  man  in  such  a  way  as  to  incorpo- 
rate with  his  constitution  an  enlargement  of  the  affections, 
susceptibilities,  appetites,  and  powers  of  endurance,  or  he 
has  to  limit  the  stock  of  oratory  which  he  throws  into  circu- 
lation, to  an  amount  sanctioned  by  the  public  taste  and  in- 
clination. 

The  charms  of  oratorical  entertainment  will  depreciate  in 
regard  to  any  particular  person  when  he  shall  yield  a  super- 
fluous supply  of  this  entertainment  to  any  single  assembly 
on  some  particular  occasion,  and  it  depreciates  vastly,  cer- 
tainly, visibly,  rapidly,  and  constantly,  by  being  dealt  out 
with  improvident  frequency,  either  in  large  or  in  limited  con- 
tributions to  the  people  at  large,  at  the  varied  points  for  as- 
sembling. 

The  elocution  of  any  particular  speaker,  to  be  highly  esti- 
mated, must  be  obtained  with  some  expenditure  of  effort  by 
the  assemblies  who  are  to  be  instructed  or  entertained  by  it. 
The  world  will  not,  and  it  cannot  enjoy  eloquence  even  of  the 
most  elevated  grade  of  excellence,  when  it  shall  be  thrust 
upon  it,  and  it  is  certain  to  become  satiated  by  its  too  fre- 
quent and  liberal  use,  even  when  the  commodity  shall  be  de- 
manded or  invited. 

Because  oratorical  powers  of  the  highest  order,  judi 
ciously  and  sparingly  used,  have  blessed  their  possessor 
with  almost  divine  honors,  the  young  speaker,  anterior  to 
the  maturation  of  his  practical  experience,  thinks  that  the 
oflenor  he  speaks,  the  more  rapidly  his  fame  will  extend. 
But  he  will  discover,  to  his  intense  mortification,  afler  he 
shall  have  been  discoursing  to  the  different  associations,  clubs, 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  LUXURIOUS  LIVING.       319 

and  public  meetings,  which  assemble  within  the  circle  of  his 
sympathies,  that  an  intimation  that  he  is  to  speak  at  some 
particular  place  at  a  specified  time,  instead  of  operating  as 
an  engaging  lure  to  attract  the  multitude  to  hear  him  in  the 
majesty  of  its  strength,  will  serve  to  keep  them  away  as  ef- 
fectually as  the  death-heads  and  men  of  straw  hung  around  a 
corn-field,  usually  serve  to  stay  the  approach  of  marauding 
birds. 


CHAPTER    LXXXVIII. 

THE   INFLUENCE   OF    LUXURIOUS    LIVING. 

It  has  been  frequently  insisted,  both  by  students  and  pro- 
fessional men,  that  luxurious  living  and  ample  feeding  do  not 
operate  as  a  clog  to  intellectual  operations.  The  principle 
embraced  in  this  proposition  has  been  adopted  as  a  shield  or 
cover  by  which  to  protect  appetite  and  inclination  from  a 
surrender  of  any  of  their  liberties.  And  it  approximates 
very  closely  in  its  nature  and  character  two  refuges  which 
are  habitually  sought  by  a  large  proportion  of  our  race,  to 
protect  them  from  public  reprehension  and  from  self-con- 
demnation. The  one  of  these  refuges  may  be  found  in  the 
habitual  proneness  of  every  youth  who  is  indolent  at  col- 
lege or  at  school,  to  fall  back  on  any  instance  of  early  idle- 
ness he  may  find  among  the  celebrated  men  of  the  world, 
and  there  to  content  himself  in  a  soft  and  serene  repose. 
The  other  refuge  to  which  we  have  referred,  is  the  practice 
so  prevalent  among  the  votaries  of  intemperance,  of  endea- 
voring to  mitigate  the  enormity  of  their  own  excesses,  by  ap- 
pealing to  the  authority  of  illustrious  names  which  were  en- 
rolled on  the  catalogue  of  the  intemperate. 

But  these  expedients  of  a  licentious  taste  are  all  as  delu- 


820       THE   INFLUENCE  OF  LUXUBIOUS  LIVING. 

sive  as  the  maniac's  vision,  and  must  inevitably  terminate,  at 
some  period  or  other,  in  landing  those  who  adopt  them,  in 
the  most  dreary  and  unproductive  wastes  of  life.  So  broad 
and  glaring  is  the  truth  that  a  free  indulgence  in  the  pleasures 
of  the  table  is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  successful  pros- 
ecution of  intellectual  pursuits,  that  men  habitually  luxuri- 
ous, who  are  jealous  of  their  fame,  will  greatly  contract  the 
circle  of  their  indulgence  in  food,  when  preparing  a  produc- 
tion which  requires  profound  research  and  intense  thought, 
or  when  about  to  engage  in  any  intellectual  labor  of  a  con- 
troversial nature.  With  any  prospective  duty  of  a  high  in- 
tellectual character  in  contemplation,  men  who  are  habitually 
temperate  in  the  use  of  food,  grow  abstemious,  w^hilst  free 
livers,  under  the  same  circumstances,  become  temperate  as 
long  as  the  duty  is  suspended  over  them. 

The  most  superficial  thinkers  are  aware  of  the  almost  in- 
vincible disinclination  to  mental  labor,  which  is  induced  by 
a  hearty  meal  at  any  hour  of  the  day.  Books  are  thrown 
aside  as  useless  incumbrances  upon  ease  and  pleasure,  or  if 
they  should  be  taken  up,  the  student  passes  through  them 
with  a  leaden  heaviness  of  reflection,  and  with  a  lifeless  and 
reluctant  pace. 

But  even  should  the  inclination  to  labor  survive,  in  more 
than  its  wonted  intensity,  the  influence  of  a  hearty  repast,  it 
will  be  to  a  great  extent  an  unproductive  labor,  the  powers 
of  thought  under  such  circumstances  will  be  usually  feeble 
and  sluggish,  the  perceptive  faculties  dim  and  obtuse,  and 
the  whole  system  of  the  mental  faculties  torpid  and  lethargic. 

Every  person  who  may  be  at  all  conversant  with  the  use 
of  books,  will  remember  with  what  incredible  alacrity  and 
lightness  of  mind  they  have  commenced  the  performance  of 
any  intellectual  labor,  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  which  a[>- 
peared  to  them  invincibly  repulsive  during  the  previous  day, 
whilst  the  mind  was  clogged  by  the  stupefying  influence  of  a 
hearty  meal. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  LTJXUKIOUS  LIVING.        321 

It  will  also  be  remembered,  too,  by  most  persons,  with 
how  much  vivacity  of  thought  and  feeling  they  have  been 
enabled  to  resume  any  duty  requiring  a  profound  application 
of  thought,  under  the  weight  of  which  they  had  staggered  on 
the  previous  day,  from  a  free  devotion  to  the  pleasures  of 
the  table. 

There  have  been  celebrated  generals  who  ascribed  the 
loss  of  a  victory  to  an  immoderate  indulgence  in  the  use 
of  food  immediately  before  going  into  action ;  and  though 
habitually  sparing  in  his  meals,  we  think  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
was  amongst  that  number.  And  we  doubt  not  there  have 
been  many  victories  lost  by  this  supervening  impediment  to 
clear  and  judicious  thought,  both  on  the  field  of  martial  strife 
and  in  the  counsels  of  peaceful  wisdom. 

There  are  many  persons  who  are  as  cautious  in  getting 
themselves  in  proper  tune  for  any  trial  of  intellectual  strength 
in  which  they  feel  a  special  degree  of  interest,  as  a  man  of 
the  turf  usually  is  in  training  a  courser  of  high  metal  for  a 
race,  on  the  issue  of  which  thousands  may  be  suspended. 
Men  of  this  description  relinquish  the  use  of  every  gross  or 
rich  article  of  food,  for  days  and  sometimes  weeks  previous 
to  the  ostensible  public  performance  of  the  duty  before  them, 
and  confine  themselves  rigidly  to  the  lightest  articles  of  sus- 
tenance, and  that  in  small  quantities.  And  this  previous 
surrender  of  all  substantial  food,  is  dictated  by  the  blended 
consideration  of  securing  the  treasures  of  vigorous  and  ac- 
tive thought,  both  during  the  process  of  preparation  and  in 
the  hour  of  performance. 

But  a  total  or  partial  abstinence  from  every  rich  or  luxu- 
rious article  of  subsistence,  not  only  confers  a  very  signal 
benefit  on  a  public  speaker  in  promoting  the  strength  of  his 
reflective  and  inventive  powers,  and  in  heightening  the  acute- 
ness  of  his  perceptive  faculties,  but  it  also  improves  in  a 
very  visible  degree  his  vocal  functions  or  powers  of  delivery. 
Every  speaker  who  addresses  a  jury  or  a  popular  assembly 


322       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  LUXURIOUS  LIVING. 

immediately  after  partaking  of  a  hearty  dinner,  will  find 
that  his  voice  has  been  somewhat  contracted  in  its  compass, 
and  that  it  will  be  also  deficient  in  flexibility  and  melody. 
These  injurious  effects  are  wrought  in  the  voice  by  that  ful- 
ness and  repletion  of  the  glands  and  vessels  about  the  throat 
and  mouth  which  is  produced  by  the  stimulating  influence 
of  food. 

If  the  duty  of  addressing  a  jury  or  other  assembly  should 
devolve  on  a  speaker  after  dinner,  and  he  is  aware  that  this 
duty  is  in  reserve  for  him,  he  may  be  enabled  to  preserve 
his  mental  and  physical  system  both  in  tune  for  the  occasion 
by  indulging  in  a  very  sparing  use  of  food.  And  he  should 
also  be  careful  to  refrain  from  every  article  of  gross  food  at 
at  any  hour  of  the  day  on  which  he  is  to  speak,  for  the  reason 
already  assigned,  that  the  mental  operations  are  not  only 
clogged  by  participating  in  rich  food  immediately  before 
speaking,  but  the  powers  of  delivery  will  also  be  impaired 
by  the  same  cause. 

The  safest  course  for  a  student  in  any  department  of  life 
to  pursue  on  this  subject,  is  to  live  sparingly  as  the  daily 
habit  of  his  life,  and  he  will  always  be  in  tune  for  intellec- 
tual investigations.  And  when  he  is  summoned  by  his  posi- 
tion in  life  to  make  an  argument,  or  to  prepare  a  production 
on  any  subject  of  vital  moment  to  his  own  interests,  or  to 
the  interests  of  others,  he  will  not  find  it  necessary  to  make 
any  considerable  surrender  of  comfort  or  convenience  by  a 
large  reduction  of  his  daily  allowance  of  food. 

And  whilst  on  this  subject  it  may  be  proper  to  state,  that 
one  who  habitually  lives  bountifully  has  no  just  conception 
of  the  smallness  of  the  quantity  that  a  human  being  can  live 
comfortably  upon,  when  he  adopts  the  resolution  of  limiting 
the  amount  of  his  daily  supplies.  And  the  capability  of 
man  to  live  comfortably  on  an  amount  of  food  small  in  com 
parison  with  that  which  is  now  daily  consumed  by  the  bulk 
of  our  race,  is  not  only  revealed  in  the  disciplinary  treat- 


THE  USE   OF  TOBACCO.  828 

ment  prescribed  by  physicians,  but  also  in  the  very  limited 
supply  of  food  which  is  daily  consumed  by  many  of  the  ar- 
dent votaries  of  science  and  literature. 


CHAPTER    LXXXIX. 

A    PUBLIC   SPEAKER   SHOULD   ABSTAIN    ENTIRELY  FROM   THE  USE  OF   TOBACCO. 

The  use  of  tobacco  has  become  so  pervasive  in  its  charac- 
ter, as  to  lull  almost  into  a  state  of  quiet  repose  the  spirit  of 
speculation  as  to  the  extent  of  its  baneful  influence  upon  the 
varied  interests  of  mankind.  The  specific  amount  of  injury 
which  is  reflected  by  the  use  of  this  noxious  weed  on  the 
health  of  its  votaries,  is  a  question  which  is  not  embraced 
within  the  province  of  this  treatise.  But  it  does  fall  within 
the  pale  of  our  present  reflections  to  consider,  to  a  brief  ex- 
tent, the  amount  of  detriment  which  is  communicated  by  the 
use  of  tobacco,  to  the  powers  of  a  public  speaker. 

And  in  elucidating  this  proposition,  the  mind  may  be  ac- 
celerated in  its  progress  to  a  just  conclusion,  without  appeal- 
ing to  the  pages  of  medical  research.  That  noble  and  benefi- 
cent science  pours  a  flood  of  light  on  this  path  of  exploration, 
which  holds  up  to  observation  as  conspicuously  as  the  bright- 
ness of  a  star,  the  various  injuries  which  are  visited  upon  the 
interests  of  our  race  by  the  use  of  tobacco.  And  in  that 
enlightened  classification  the  pernicious  eflect  of  this  practice 
upon  the  human  voice  is  included.  But  entirely  independent 
of  the  learned  deductions  of  the  medical  profession  on  this 
subject,  we  possess  an  infallible  guide  to  accuracy  of  judg- 
ment, in  the  experience  of  public  speakers  who  have  habit- 
ually used  tobacco  in  some  of  its  varied  forms,  and  also  in 
the  plain  and  legible  results  which  must  necessarily  flow 


324  THE   USE  OF  TOBACCO. 

from  pre-existing  causes.  Each  of  these  auxiliaries  to  the 
spirit  of  inquiry  affirm  in  characters  of  living  and  impressive 
light,  that  the  voice  suffers  as  much  from  the  use  of  tobacco, 
as  any  other  function  of  the  human  system. 

And  it  is  perfectly  natural  that  the  result  should  be  so. 
Por  the  voice  is  as  dependent  for  its  fulness,  flexibility  and 
sweetness,  upon  the  preservation  of  the  glands  and  minute 
vessels  connected  with  the  mouth  and  throat  in  their  natural 
and  healthful  state,  as  is  the  faculty  of  digestion  dependent 
for  the  punctual  and  faithful  execution  of  its  trust,  upon 
keeping  the  organs  about  the  stomach  in  a  sound  and  regu- 
lar condition. 

The  organs  of  speech,  comprehending  the  mouth  and 
throat  with  their  varied  machinery,  receive  those  supplies  of 
moisture,  which  are  calculated  to  soften  the  harshness  of  the 
voice,  and  to  give  it  the  power  of  easy  expansion,  from  an 
almost  countless  number  of  minute  vessels  or  nerves  which 
serve  as  conductors  for  the  saliva.  If  these  vessels  are  so 
stimulated  by  the  process  of  chewing  or  smoking,  as  to  ex- 
haust in  a  given  time,  or  even  to  consume  a  disproportionate 
share  of  those  fluids,  which  are  as  essential  to  the  facile 
movements  of  the  vocal  functions,  as  oil  is  to  the  motions 
of  a  mechanical  machine,  it  must  be  perfectly  evident  to  the 
reflecting  mind,  that  the  human  voice  Cimnot  be  as  perfect 
and  tuneable  with  its  supply  of  moisture  cut  off  or  partially 
curtailed,  as  it  would  be  with  all  its  natural  aids  in  full  per- 
fection. The  voice  is  injured  either  by  the  smoking  of  a 
cigar,  or  by  indulging  in  a  chew  of  tobacco  immediately 
precedent  to  the  delivery  of  a  speech ;  for  the  surplus  of 
moisture  or  saliva,  which  would  greatly  assist  the  vocal  or- 
gans in  performing  a  specific  amount  of  labor,  will  be  pre- 
viously drawn  off  by  the  stimulating  influence  of  the  pipe  or 
the  chew,  and  expended  entirely  in  vain.  But  long  persever- 
ance, either  in  the  practice  of  chewing,  smoking,  or  snuffing, 
is  calculated  to  impart  an  injury  to  the  voice,  which  is  more 


THE   USE   OF  TOBACCO.  825 

permanent  in  its  character  than  the  simple  act  of  taking  one 
chew,  one  cigar,  or  one  pinch  of  snuff.  The  injurious  influ- 
ence exerted  by  one  brief  indulgence  in  this  way,  will  be 
apt  to  expire  with  the  act  which  gave  it  birth,  whilst  persist- 
ing in  either  of  these  forms  of  its  use  for  a  considerable  length 
of  time,  not  only  deranges  the  application  of  the  saliva,  but 
it  blunts  the  delicacy  of  the  nerves  and  vessels  about  the 
throat,  in  such  a  way,  by  ke&ping  them  constantly  stimulated,  --^^^B 
as  to  require  a  total  surrender  of  the  use  of  tobacco,  united  ™ 
with  the  curative  efficacy  of  time,  to  restore  the  voice  to  its 
original  state. 

There  was  an  orator  in  this  country,  whose  fame  is  co-ex- 
tensive with  the  surface  of  the  globe,  who  possessed  a  voice 
in  speaking  which  was  the  perfection  of  music,  and  who  yet 
was  a  habitual  and  prodigal  taker  of  snuff.  But  his  voice 
was  originally  so  fine,  and  was  so  finely  cultivated,  that  it 
preserved  its  silver  tones  in  despite  of  a  supervening  encum- 
brance, just  as  some  men  of  unusually  robust  constitutions, 
retain  their  health,  vigor,  and  elasticity  of  frame,  in  defiance 
of  the  daily  fi'ee  use  of  stimulating  liquids. 

It  is  almost  the  certain  tendency  of  smoking,  chewing,  or 
snuffing,  to  render  the  voice  hoarse,  husky,  and  difficult  of 
modulation.  And  for  the  purpose  of  subjecting  the  truth  of 
this  proposition  to  a  fair  test,  let  a  speaker  who  is  in  the 
nabit  of  chewing  or  smoking,  forego  the  luxury  of  his  cigar 
or  his  chew,  on  the  morning  in  which  he  is  to  deliver  a 
speech,  and  he  will  discover  a  perceptible  improvement  in 
the  sound  and  intonations  of  his  voice,  even  from  the  influ- 
ence of  that  brief  respite. 


326  THE   USE  OF  STIMULATING  LIQUIDS. 


CHAPTER    XC. 

A   SPEAKER   SHOULD   NEVER    RESORT   TO   STIMULATING    LIQUIDS    AS 
AUXILIARIES   TO   SUCCESSFUL   SPEAKING. 

• 

A  RESORT  to  stimulating  liquids,  with  the  view  of  exhilar- 
ating the  feelings  and  warming  the  imagination,  as  a  prepar- 
atory process  to  successful  speaking,  should  be  avoided  like 
the  fang  of  a  viper.  For  even  if  the  presence  of  so  perilous 
an  ally  should  be  palpably  beneficial  to  a  speaker  in  the  im- 
provement of  his  oratorical  powers,  he  will  be  greatly  injur- 
ed when  he  may  not  be  able  to  command  this  auxiliary,  in 
the  affecting  contrast  which  will  be  presented  between  his  at- 
tractions then  as  a  speaker,  and  when  he  has  imbibed  inspir- 
ation from  the  sparkling  divinity.  He  will  be  as  much  incom- 
moded, too,  by  his  inability  to  grasp  this  baneful  quiver  of 
strength  when  he  is  about  to  speak,  as  a  lame  man  would  be 
at  the  loss  of  his  crutches  when  about  to  start  on  a  cruise  of 
pleasure,  in  which  he  might  feel  the  liveliest  interest ;  or  as 
a  person  of  imperfect  vision  would  feel  at  the  abstraction  of 
his  spectacles  when  an  illegible  manuscript  might  be  placed 
in  his  hands. 

Another  ill-consequence  of  momentous  magnitude  almost 
invariably  flows  from  a  servile  dependence  on  so  noxious  a 
resource  in  the  intellectual  performances  of  life,  and  that  is 
the  deadening  influence  which  is  exerted  over  the  reputation 
of  a  speaker  by  the  suspicion  that  he  is  incompetent  to  act 
with  success  in  the  pure  domain  of  intellect,  without  appeal- 
ing to  the  most  appalling  appliance  of  vice.  But  inconceiv- 
ably the  most  startling  evil  among  the  hated  brood  which 
springs  from  the  practice  now  under  consideration,  may  be 
recognized  in  the  fact,  that  when  a  vice  which  pleads  with 


THE   USE  OF  STIMULATING  LIQUIDS.  327 

the  eloquence  of  original  fascination  to  some  minds,  shall  be 
commended  to  its  votary  by  the  additional  charm  of  utility,  it 
will  most  certainly  seize  his  affections  with  a  grasp  so  unrelent- 
ing and  invincible,  that  nothing  short  of  the  power  of  Omnipo- 
tence can  break  it.  Let  the  sparkling  beverage  be  recom-. 
mended  to  the  lips  of  its  already  impassioned  votary  by  the 
strong  superadded  merit  of  having  delivered  him  from  the 
clutches  of  some  irksome  disease,  and  it  will  prove  miracu- 
lous if  he  is  not  placed  utterly  beyond  the  reach  of  moral 
persuasion  and  friendly  restraint  to  save  him. 

But  eloquence  bears  a  glitter  about  it  which  shines  more 
brightly  and  attractively  to  the  human  heart  than  even  the 
return  of  blooming  health  to  the  cheek  blanched  with  dis- 
ease, and  an  advocate  or  speaker  of  any  description  who 
shall  be  allured  to  even  the  occasional  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks,  with  the  hope  of  grasping  the  prize  of  eloquence 
through  its  aid,  will  never  search  for  any  returning  path  to 
the  temple  of  sobriety  and  virtue. 

The  path  of  human  experience,  both  in  this  country  and 
Britain,  is  strewed  with  mournful  wrecks,  in  verification  of 
the  propositions  which  have  been  affirmed  in  this  chapter. 
And  if  there  be  an  instance  on  record  that  serves  to  demon- 
strate that  there  ever  was  a  speaker  who  habitually  resorted 
to  stimulants  to  improve  his  elocution,  who  possessed  any 
extraordinary  degree  of  power  and  fascination  independent  of 
that  aid ;  or  that  there  ever  was  a  speaker  who  was  visibly 
improved  in  speaking  by  a  recourse  to  stimulants,  that  ever 
was  totally  and  completely  reclaimed  from  the  dominion 
of  intemperance,  then  we  are  prepared  to  confess  the  revela- 
tion of  a  fact  which  has  been  entirely  without  the  pale  of 
our  observation. 


THE   END. 


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